


Comfort Is...

by Chameleononplaid



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-01 03:33:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11477754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chameleononplaid/pseuds/Chameleononplaid
Summary: Felicity is not having a good day. All she wants is the comforts from home to make her feel better. Then her bad day gets worse resulting in a meeting with the infamous Hood who complete changes her definition of comfort.For the Olicity Hiatus-Fic-A-Thon. Prompts: Comfort is for the 1st Chapter. See notes for other chapter prompts.





	1. Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thank you again to my beta missmeagan666. Without her support and ability to catch the small things I wouldn't be able to provide you all with the best work I can. 
> 
> I do not own the characters. They belong to Arrow and DC Comics.

 

            Comfort was a pint of mint chip after a stressful day. A warm fire and a plush quilt as she huddled on her couch watching Netflix while storm clouds descended on the city. It was a bottle of red wine next to a glass waiting to be filled as she reclined in her tub full of bubbles.

            What comfort wasn’t was standing in the pouring rain, her hair plastered to her face, her glasses fogged from her breath as she waited for Ray to show up. The fact that he was late very well meant that she might be stranded. Once Ray became embroiled by a project he could very well forget the world existed for days. His fiancée, Anna, always laughed at his antics when she wasn’t scolding him for putting things off.

            It wouldn’t have worried Felicity much, but her phone had died well over an hour ago. She had been playing Candy Crush as the sky darkened. The second the first rain drops began to descend, her phone went black.

            So, here she was standing outside the steps of Queen Consolidated after midnight. Not one person in sight. Her car lay at the mechanic’s waiting to be finished after the minor fender bender she had yesterday. The day before yesterday now.

            Almost to the point of desperation, Felicity was about to begin pounding on the glass doors behind her begging entrance from the security guards who had warned her, as they did every night she worked late, that the doors were to remain locked until six the next morning.

            Frustrated, drenched and definitely desperate, Felicity began to walk down the street in hopes of finding a stray taxi roaming around on a Wednesday night. What she found instead was a masked man with a gun shaking in his hand.

            “Give me your purse,” he demanded waving the weapon at her brand new leather purse. The one she had just spent a whole month’s worth of lunch money on. Which pretty much meant that it was devoid of any actual cash. And, frankly, her debit card wouldn’t be of much help to the man in front of her either.

          The only bright spot in this otherwise crappy situation was that because she had changed wallets quickly that morning, her debit card was the only thing in there. Well, that and her license which had her full name and address. None of which she actually wanted to share with the man in front of her.

          “I don’t think she’s interested,” a deep male voice said from behind the man with the gun.

          The robber turned and as he did Felicity caught a glance at her rescuer. The shadows kept him hidden, but there was enough light to have a small reflection off the paleness of his hidden features. Features covered in something just a little bit longer than a five o’clock shadow. But the main thing that gave away his identity was the bow and arrow aimed straight at the heart of the bobbling robber. The Hood.

          Felicity wasn’t sure exactly who she was more scared of. Her attacker or the man set out to save her. Right now, she was pretty sure the right answer to that question was both.

          Inching back from the tableaux, Felicity wanted to run. However, the shiny Panda flats on her feet didn’t tend to have the best traction in normal circumstances, let alone in the drenching downpour that surrounded her. She stared down at them in contempt while she debated slipping them off her feet and making a break for it, all the while still backing away from the standstill that had overtaken the two men near her.

         Which is probably why she never noticed the unevenness of the pavement. Her feet tripped and she went shuddering down to the ground. Her palm skinned from trying to delay her fall. Her skirt torn. Her pride, though, is what hurt the most as she squealed her pain.

         A squeal that set off a chain of events. An arrow soared past the robber and right over Felicity’s head. Had she been at the Kentucky Derby, her hat would now be adorned by a green tipped arrow. The robber ran, firing shots wildly behind him in the direction of The Hood. And the sky, which didn’t seem like it could get any angrier, decided to prove exactly how wrong her powers of deduction could be.

        The rain became so thick Felicity could barely see her hand. The only good thing to that was that at least the wound would be clean. Leave it to her to somehow find the bright light amongst the chaos.

        “Let me help you,” The Hood’s voice came from next to her. That almost caused her to scream again but she managed to swallow it back.

        “I… I’m fine. Really.” Felicity reached around blindly to find her bag and purse. Nothing seemed to have spilled which was another bright point in her favor. However, when she began to rise, she found out her luck had run out. “Ow!”

        A hand shot out and found her back giving her support when her ankle refused to do as it was supposed to. Bouncing on her good leg, Felicity tried to find some traction, but her flats didn’t decide to cooperate. Before she slipped back down to the concrete below, Felicity was scooped up in solid, sturdy arms.

        “I’ve got you,” came the soft, gruff voice above her head. He was using some sort of voice modulator to talk, but because of her close proximity to his mouth she could almost hear a hint of his real voice.

        “You wouldn’t happen to have a phone to call a taxi, would you?” Felicity tried to tease but it came out a little more desperate than she intended.

        “I do. Is that what you want?”

        That was a damn good question. What she wanted was to be at home asleep and to wake up and find out all of this was just a dream. Unfortunately, the pain in her ankle appeared quite real. Pain like that tended to be as effective as a pinch, so she was pretty sure that the situation she was in was quite real. Plus, even with her vivid imagination, Felicity was pretty sure she would have never placed The Hood as her rescuer. Or had him quite as strong as he appeared to be.

 

        A smile tilted at Oliver’s lips the longer she sat there without answering his question. _Who was this woman? Where had she come from?_ All good questions. None of which he thought she would answer. “Why are you wandering the streets?”

        “My ride didn’t show.”

_Someone had left her here? Alone?_ Sure, this wasn’t exactly the Glades, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a chance that she could be assaulted. Case in point, the robber who he had run off. “You’re hurt.”

        The blonde grimaced up at him. “You don’t have to tell me that.”

        The smile that had been ghosting over his face came on full force. _What was it with this woman that lightened his mood?_ “Can you stand?”

        She shook her head, her face still radiating the pain she must be feeling. “I don’t think so.”

        Oliver walked down a nearby alley. He had noticed that there had been a discarded chair. Finding it, Oliver set her down and bent down at her feet. He pulled her foot toward him and examined it. She tried to shy away from his touch at first, but he held on stronger trying his best not to hurt her further. “Let me see.”

        He poked and prodded the swollen flesh. It was already turning blue. That wasn’t a good sign. Glancing up at her, Oliver nodded to the foot on his thigh. “It’s broken. I’m sorry. You’re going to need to get this looked at by a doctor.”

        Oliver gently set her foot down before he rose. Turning, Oliver scanned the immediate area. At least here in the alleyway, they were protected from a large majority of the rain and his sight was much better despite the darkness. Spotting what he was looking for, Oliver went over to retrieve it. Returning to her side, Oliver bent down again and pulled a roll of bandage he kept in case of emergency in his jacket. “I’m going to wrap it with this stick. It should keep it steady enough until we get you to the doctor.”

        “We?” He noticed her voice pitch higher.

        “I’m not about to leave you here alone.”

        “What about the cab?” she protested. “You can call one and wait for me in the shadows if you prefer to make sure I’m okay.”

        Oliver began to wrap up her leg as he considered her offer. It was probably the more logical solution. But for some reason he wanted to make sure she actually made it to the doctor for treatment. If he could, he would walk her right inside the Emergency Room, but that wasn’t exactly an option in his nighttime suit. “If that’s what you really want.”

        “Yes. It’s what I want.”

        Oliver pulled out his phone and tossed it into her lap as he tied off the bandage. “No calling the police.”

        “I wouldn’t,” she assured him. She sat there staring down at his burner phone. “Do you happen to know the number for a cab?”

        He couldn’t have kept the laugh back if he tried. “Here.” Oliver held out a gloved hand to get his phone back. Quickly she handed it over, her hand shimmying over his for the briefest of moments. Oliver tried to ignore the shot of electricity that went through him at the soft touch of her flesh that somehow managed to glance over the small patch of skin that had fallen open between his gloves and his jacket. Closing his eyes, he gripped the phone tight. “Give me a moment.”

        Rising, Oliver went over to a corner of the alleyway and called Diggle. “Hey.”

        “What’s going on? Was there a problem?”

        Oliver glanced back over to the blonde. “You could say that.”

        “Talk.”

        “I ran into a guy robbing a woman. I saved her, but she was hurt. She managed to break her ankle,” Oliver explained. “She wants a cab to take her to the Emergency Room.”

        Diggle hummed as if in thought, considering Oliver’s words. “I have a friend. He drives a cab. I can see if I can get my hands on it.”

        “She might recognize you. I can’t take that chance. We were both on the news recently after the whole arrest thing.” Oliver still couldn’t believe that he managed to get out of that one.

        “So, what do you want to do?”

        “Call her a cab.” There wasn’t much he could do otherwise.

        “Where are you at?”

        Oliver gave Diggle the address and hung up. Slipping the phone back into his pocket, he walked back over to the blonde. “Cab will be here shortly.”

        “Thank you,” she said with relief on her face. “For everything.”

        “You don’t need to thank me.”

        The woman pushed herself up from the chair, hobbling as she tried to remain steady. Automatically, Oliver reached out and held onto her arm to give her the support she needed. “I really do.”

        Oliver thought that would be that. He never expected her arms to encircle him in a hug. Despite her drenched state, he could smell a whiff of the honeysuckle and rose perfume that lingered softly on her skin. It reminded him of summer on the cold dreariness of the late fall night. Oliver could feel her skin shiver and it was then that he realized exactly how wet and cold she must be. She’d be lucky if she didn’t end up with pneumonia. Pulling her closer, Oliver tried to share some of his warmth with her. Having her so close was making his own skin burn.

        “Thank you,” she whispered as she snuggled deeper into him. “I didn’t realize I was this cold.”

        “You have to stop thanking me,” he whispered back.

        Her head tilted back and Oliver wondered if she might be able to see his face in such close proximity. The grease paint had to have smeared in the drenching downpour. “Are you allergic to thank yous or something?”

        A smile lifted the right corner of his mouth. “No. I just don’t deserve them.”

        “I think you do.”

        Oliver didn’t know why he did it. He had no idea he was even going to, until he did. His head lowered and his lips touched hers gently. It was a more of a butterfly kiss than a real one. But as he began to retreat from his stupidity, she pushed up on her one good foot and touched her lips to his again. He couldn’t have stopped kissing her at that moment if the entire police squad arrived with guns drawn.

        Burying one of his hands into her hair, he held her there, anchoring her as he sought entrance into the warm, wetness of her mouth. Oliver groaned deep in his throat the second she gave him what he searched for. Their kiss deepened, lengthening to a point that Oliver began to feel the need for air. It was only then that he pulled back. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

        She opened her mouth to speak, but the honking of a horn interrupted whatever she had in mind to say. “That’s my cab.”

        “Probably.”

        “I’ll never see you again.” She stared up at him and Oliver recognized the desperation to keep her close. He didn’t want this to be the end.

        “Tell me your name.” He never felt this desperation to know someone. He wanted some link to her. Some way to possibly find her again, even if there was no reason to search her out.

        “Felicity.” She hesitated for a second and Oliver thought that would be all she would say. “Felicity Smoak.”

        “Let me help you get to the cab.”

        “Thank...” She smiled and nodded at him. “I forgot you don’t like those.”

        “I think for you I can make an exception.” Oliver swept her up into his arms. He was determined that she wouldn’t need to walk until absolutely necessary.

        “Then, thank you.”

        “You’re welcome.” Oliver carried her the length of the alleyway. The shadows had shifted so he couldn’t go much further without exposing her to scrutiny. If anyone knew she had been with The Hood, the police might search her out for questioning. Not that she knew anything, but he didn’t want her to be exposed to that if she didn’t need to be. Oliver nodded toward the awaiting vehicle. “There’s your ride.”

 

        “I’m surprised they waited this long,” Felicity said as she quickly looked in the direction he indicated.

        “I might have mentioned you were injured.” The Hood gently eased her down his body, lending her whatever support she needed to settle on her own.

        Silence descended on them while they stared at each other. Felicity gave a half-hearted wave and turned to go. She barely stepped away when he reached out of the shadows to grasp her hand. Unsure of his intent, Felicity allowed him to guide her back into the darkness.

        “Felicity,” he breathed deep and she suspected he wanted to say something else. “I know you’re tired, but you have to promise me you are going straight to the ER.”

        “I will,” she assured him.

        “Good.” He nodded at her, but didn’t release her. “You also have to file a police report.”

        “I can’t,” she quickly protested. She didn’t want to get him in trouble. And that’s exactly what would happen if she told the police all that happened. They would completely disregard the fact that he had actually helped her afterwards.

       “You have to. That robber could have hurt you.” His eyes fell down to her ankle. “More than he already did. Than I did.” The Hood paused as his eyes met hers. “Tell them that you escaped but hurt your ankle in the process.”

       “I will.” Felicity squeezed his hand. He truly seemed to be concerned. A side she had never pictured the man behind the hood to have. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

       “Too late,” he said with a soft smile.

       She nodded because she didn’t know what else to say to that. Reaching out she patted his chest. “I hope that one day I can meet you again.”

       The Hood nodded back at her. “Maybe one day.”

       Felicity pressed upwards and placed a quick kiss to his cheek, relishing the slight pain from his beard. “Be careful.”

       Those were the last words she said to him before she turned away and walked the best she could toward the taxi that would lead her away from him, maybe forever. The man in the taxi noticed her gait and quickly jumped out of the car to help her into the car. She thanked him and slid down into the seats thankful for the fact that the inside was nice and warm. Steam practically came up from her clothes at the difference in temperature.

       Swiping a hand across the fogged window, Felicity squinted out the car towards the shadows. She couldn’t be sure, but she had a feeling he was still there watching. Felicity raised a hand and waved slightly. It was only as the car pulled away that he stepped out of the shadows and waved back.

       Felicity settled back on her seat the second the driver turned the corner. She smiled down softly at her wrapped leg. After having the vigilante at her feet caring for her, Felicity realized her definition of comfort had now expanded.

       There was something to be said for having one of the most dangerous men in the city lending her support, caring for her with gentle hands, making sure she was safe. Before today, Felicity would have never guessed that she would have felt comfortable around him. Now, she almost felt lonely without his warm presence next to her. And she didn’t even know his name or what he even looked like. Funny, she really didn’t even care. He had shown her who he was inside and that was the man that she would always remember.


	2. Frustration Is...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver is frustrated by the fact that he has to wait to search out Felicity, but when he does he can't quite keep away from her like he had planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another huge thank you to my beta, missmeagan666.
> 
> This story just worked out to fit in with this weeks Olicity Hiatus-fic-a-thon prompt: One More Time.  
> As you will be able to tell by the ending there will definitely at least be one more chapter coming. Hopefully, another prompt will be able to fit in as nicely as this one had.

 

            Frustration was not being able to throw a punch fast enough. It was not getting all the information he needed to take down the criminals he targeted. It was sitting at the dinner table with his family and friends biting his tongue to keep from telling them his deepest secrets.

            But what frustration really was… It was him sitting here on his hands in front of his computer unable to follow through on any of the information contained on it until morning. Information that told him all about one Felicity Smoak.

            The picture in front of him didn’t do her justice. Then again there weren’t many driver’s license pictures that did. Oliver scrolled down. Her Queen Consolidated badge picture was better.

            That was the true irony of all of this. When he met her he had no idea she worked at his family’s company. In the IT Department of all places. It wasn’t exactly a floor that was on his most visited list. Maybe that needed to change.

            Oliver needed to see her again. At least one more time. He had to make sure she was okay after her accident, or so he told himself.

            He had been fully prepared to show up in her apartment one night. She’d recognize him easily enough in his hood. What she wouldn’t expect was a visit from Oliver Queen. Plus, he had a feeling she’d tend to be a little more honest about her injury with the boss’s son than The Hood. _Maybe. Probably_.

            Shutting down the system, Oliver let out a smile as he grabbed his coat. For now, he’d head home and get some rest. But tomorrow… Tomorrow, he’d see her again.

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Oliver exited the elevator and took a deep breath. He was nervous. His hands tapped together while he approached a woman sitting close by. “Hi. I was hoping to meet up with Felicity Smoak. Is she in?”

            “Oh. Oh!” The woman straightened her desk and gave him a fumbling smile. She tucked a strand of hair that had come loose from her bun behind her ear and pushed up her plain metal framed glasses. “Yes. She’s in. Did you want me to take you there?”

            Shaking his head, Oliver tried to remain polite and patient. “If you could just point me there, I’ll be fine.”

            The woman, who was younger than he first thought her to be rose from her chair. “Of course. Here let me show you.” She ushered him over a row of cubicles. “See that door over there? It has the words IT Department on it.” Oliver nodded at her acknowledging that he did indeed see it. “Felicity should be in there.” She shook her wrist and a watch appeared out from under her long sleeve muted blue blouse. “I don’t believe she’s taken lunch yet.”

            “Who are you talking about?” a young man in a sweater vest of all things asked.

            “Felicity,” the woman responded.

            The guy nodded making his glasses shake on his nose. “Yup. I would’ve noticed her go by if she had.”

            The woman leaned into Oliver and whispered. “He has a huge crush on her.”

            Oliver stepped back and away from her. Not because he was uncomfortable, but because he was anxious to seek out Felicity. “Thanks.”

            Normally his gait was fast and sure, however, right now, he made himself slow down. He honestly wasn’t sure what kind of reception he’d receive. Glancing back behind him, Oliver noticed the avid interest of the two people who had aided him on his mission.

            Not that he could blame them. What was Oliver Queen doing seeking out an IT expert without any computer in his hands? It wasn’t like he had the best of reputations when it came to women. One he unfortunately had to continue to cultivate in order to keep his other self hidden from censure.

            The door was slightly cracked open and Oliver stepped through the portal. At first all he saw was the computers and servers that filled the room. Then his eyes touched upon her. She sat there unaware of his presence.

            Felicity was nibbling on a red pen as she read something out of a book. Her hair was neatly pulled back into a low ponytail. Unlike the last time, she was perfectly groomed and dry. It didn’t matter. She was still beautiful. Almost more so than he remembered. _Was it only three days ago?_

            “Felicity Smoak?”

            She started and her eyes shot to him. Quickly, the pen was pulled from her equally red lips. Lips that had once pressed to his, setting him on fire with the need for more.

            “Hi. I’m Oliver Queen.”

            “I know who you are,” she said. “You’re Mr. Queen.”

            “No. That’s my father.”

            “I know, but he’s --”

            Oliver nodded behind her, cutting off her words. He didn’t want to discuss his father. “Are you okay?”

            Felicity’s head turned toward the pair of crutches that sat within arm’s length. “It was a little accident. It’s not a big deal.”

            “Crutches usually are.” _Please tell me_ , Oliver silently pleaded. He needed to know. He had to know to ease some of the tension within him since he had been unable to make sure she had been taken care of at the hospital.

            She shook her head. “Just me being clumsy. I broke my ankle tripping over the pavement. It was late and raining. I guess I wasn’t paying attention.” Felicity’s attention returned to him. “Was there something you needed?”

            Oliver stepped forward. The need to be close to her was strong. It had been years since he had felt like this with anyone. “I’m having trouble with my network that I have at…” _Damn it, he almost said the foundry_. “Home. It’s at home. Separate from what my mother has set up.” Her look seemed doubtful, but he chose to ignore it. “I was hoping I could ask you a couple of questions on how I might be able to fix it.”

            “Sure. Of course.” She waved at a seat but grimaced at the things that were piled there. “You can just set the stuff on the floor. I’ll get to it later.”

            Grinning, Oliver reached down and removed the books and papers from the chair she indicated. The smile slid from his face quickly though when he realized he’d have to come up with something to talk to her about. Maybe he should have just spilled a coffee on a laptop or something.

            A knock sounded on the door. The one Oliver had closed behind him when he entered. Felicity glanced up at it, pushing her red and black glasses up her nose. “Yes?”

            The young man Oliver had talked to earlier pushed his head inside the door after he opened it a crack. “It’s lunch time. I was wondering if you wanted to head to the cafeteria together. Or I could get you something if you don’t feel like walking.”

            Felicity glanced in his direction and Oliver shrugged at her. “I can come back.”

            She shook her head and returned her gaze to the man at the door. “Thank you, Charlie, but I’m good.”

            The kid looked disappointed but he quickly covered it up. “Okay. Maybe next time.”

            Oliver calculated in his head how many problems he could come up with so that he’d be forced to keep coming to her office right at lunch time. He wanted to avoid the probability of Felicity sharing lunch with that guy. Not that Oliver would be able to come every day even if he wanted to. His persona as Oliver Queen demanded his attention on too many occasions.

            Like now. Oliver reached for his vibrating phone. He held it up. “I need to take this. Excuse me.”

            Oliver slipped out the door that Charlie had disappeared from and found a secluded corner. “Go.”

            “We have a situation,” Diggle informed him. “You need to head over here _now_.”

            Glancing over at Felicity’s office, Oliver asked, “Can it wait? I might be heading out for lunch.”

            “Not if you want to catch the guy that tried to rob the woman you rescued the other night.”

            “Shit.” Oliver closed his eyes and thoughts warred within him. The need to stay here with Felicity and the need to catch the man who almost hurt her. “I’ll be there.”

            “Got it.”

            Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Oliver entered Felicity’s office again after rapping his knuckles on the wooden door. “I’m sorry, but I need to head out.”

            “That’s fine,” she assured him. Felicity turned in her chair and retrieved her crutches. She fumbled slightly as she rose and Oliver rushed over to her side. Felicity shot him a confused stare. She needed help and he’d give it to her no matter what she thought his motives were. “Thanks. I’m still not completely used to them yet.”

            “How long do you have them?”

            She held up her casted ankle. It went up mid-calf, which was probably why she was wearing a skirt. However, that didn’t seem like the best thing to wear when you had to swing around on crutches. “Six weeks. Four if it heals fast.”

            “At least let me help you to the elevator.” Oliver shrugged off her curiosity as to why he was being so nice. “We’re both heading downstairs.”

            “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

            Every time she thanked him, it brought back memories of their first night together. Oliver tried to ignore the way his heart raced at the thought that she was so close once again. However, he began to scowl at the way she hobbled around on unsure arms. “Did you want me to call security?”

            “What for?” Her blue eyes filled with confusion as she paused by the door of her office.

            “They have a wheelchair. For emergency situations,” he explained. “I can request its use for you while you’re in the offices.”

            Felicity glanced around her office before meeting his eyes again. “I doubt it will fit in here.”

            That brought Oliver’s attention to just how small her office really was. She was right. A lot of things would have to be moved or changed for wheelchair access. He frowned wondering if his mother and Walter knew that handicap access was so limited in their company.

            “Mr. Queen?”

            “Yes?” Oliver shook himself out of his thoughts. “And call me Oliver. Remember, Mr. Queen…”

            “Was your father,” she finished for him with a small nod. “I remember. Are you ready to go?”

            “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Oliver asked her with a grin as he joined her just outside the door.

            “Yes, but you were the one still in the office.”

            “Sorry.” Oliver glanced down at her silver crutches with the bright pink foam. “Did you want to lean on me instead of using those? Or I could carry you.”

            Her eyes floated down his body and Oliver tried to deny the small rush he had as she took in every part of him. Her eyes seemed to appreciate his muscular structure, but they were cloaked when they returned to his. “I’ll be fine.”

            Oliver situated her on his arm, taking one of the crutches away. “You may be fine, but I might get lost. I had to ask for directions just to get here.”

            “Are you teasing me?” she asked in interest.

            “No.” He guided her forward. “Which way, Miss Smoak?”

            “Felicity,” she said softly. “If I’m going to call you Oliver, you should call me Felicity.”

            “Felicity,” he repeated. He felt her shiver when he used her name. It made him want to use it more. Oliver wondered what other kinds of responses he could muster from her just from using her name.

 

            _How was a girl supposed to resist someone like Oliver Queen? Especially when he said her name in such a reverent tone?_

            Felicity closed her eyes trying to shut off her over active imagination that began to form way too many scenarios in which he could. A lot less platonic scenarios _. A lot less_.

            His muscles twitched under her arm as she leaned on him in support while they made their way down the hallway comprised of multiple cubicles. Felicity couldn’t help herself from slightly stroking his arm to encourage more reactions.

            Luckily, most everyone was at lunch so there weren’t many eyes that noticed the two of them pass by. The few that were there were either eating at their desks while trying to accomplish whatever project they had to work on or just so deep in code that they didn’t notice the spectacle of a computer nerd latched onto the arm of one of the most available, richest bachelors in the city.

            Not that there could be anything between them other than work. It wasn’t like they would even have one thing in common. To say they were in the two different leagues would be like saying that recreation baseball for young elementary school students was close to the major leagues. They were that far away. Further. Felicity was lucky she had even come up with that small baseball metaphor.

            They reached the elevators and Oliver quickly steadied her before reaching out to press the button. “Where are you going for lunch?”

            “Probably just the cafeteria. I don’t feel comfortable going too far on these.”

            His eyes began to narrow and she wondered what was going on in his head. “You planning to eat with Chuckie?”

            “Charlie,” Felicity corrected with a small laugh. “Though now that you’ve said that I’ll probably be having work nightmares with him in it. Chuckie, not Charlie. That movie gave me the creeps,” Felicity said with a small shiver.

            The elevator opened up and Oliver led her inside. It was blissfully free of passengers. Considering the size of QC that was almost a miracle. She couldn’t remember more than a handful of times that it ever was in her time with the company. And those few times were normally because she worked past the normal work hours to actually be able to get some work accomplished.

            As the doors closed with them in it, Oliver pressed a button to make it stop. It caused an alarm that had Felicity pressing herself to the wall.

            “It’s okay, Felicity.” He reached out to assure her as the elevator phone rang. Oliver picked it up and raised it to his ear. “It’s fine. I’m Oliver Queen. I’ll release it in just a minute.”

            After he hung up, he approached her. “I only wanted to make sure you didn’t have nightmares.”  

            “By giving me new ones?” she said only half-kidding.

            “Felicity, I…” There was something there in his eyes that she couldn’t even begin to define. He reached out and his finger traced over the crutches briefly. “I don’t want you to be hurt. Any more than you already have been.”

            She cocked her head to the side studying the man in front of her. For a second she could swear she saw a hint of raw vulnerability. Something she wouldn’t normally attribute to Oliver Queen. “I’m fine. Really.”

            Felicity reached out and touched his chest. It was meant to reassure him. She felt his muscles clench under her touch as he drew in a deep breath. A breath that she would relish since all of hers escaped. Her entire world seemed to narrow onto only the two of them. The slight give of their bodies while their lungs tried to remember their normal function.

            Unsure of how long they stood there, Felicity was surprised when she managed to move first. She tried to lean past him to release the elevator car. He grabbed her wrist before she could. The force of him yanking her hand behind her back caused her crutch to fall to the ground. It clattered but neither one of them noticed.

            Oliver stepped forward tilting the other crutch away so it would join its partner on the floor. Then her glasses seemed to disappear from her face to hide away in the recess of his pocket. By the time Felicity’s normally fast brain comprehended any of it, Oliver’s mouth was on hers.

            It felt familiar which was crazy. Felicity would surely remember kissing someone like Oliver Queen. Not that she should be kissing Oliver Queen. She worked at QC and this was all sorts of wrong, but he kissed her first.

            Not just kissing her either. His tongue was swept over her lips, tasting them, almost memorizing them. The second Felicity opened her mouth to his onslaught she thought for sure he would find his way inside. Instead he held back. He almost seemed to be waiting for something. Permission, perhaps?

            Felicity hesitantly let her own tongue slip inside his mouth, relishing the warmth she found there. His own tongue took hers on a tour. She hit one spot and he groaned deep into her mouth, crushing her against him. He pushed her against the wall and her hurt ankle snapped against the surface.

            A deep surging pain shot through her whole body and she had to pull away. “Frack! Frack fracking frack!”

            Desire slipped from his face as concern took over. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have… I wasn’t thinking…” Oliver scrubbed a hand over his face. “Tell me you’re okay.”

            Felicity tried to control the pain and hide her grimace. “I… I’m okay. I just think maybe I should head back to my office for a bit.”

            “Are you sure?”

            Felicity nodded and glanced up at him. He looked as anguished as she felt. It was like all of her hurt was transferring over to him. If only pain would too, but she wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

            Oliver reached for his pocket. He pulled her glasses handing them over before grabbing for his wallet. Oliver took out some money shoving it into her hand. “Buy whatever you want for lunch and have it delivered. On me.”

            She stared down at the large denomination of the bill in her hand before raising her head up. “Fifty? How much do you think I eat?”

            He grinned down at her, releasing the elevator. His smile actually helped ease some of the pain. _Amazing_. “You can use the rest to buy me dinner.”

            Felicity’s eyes flickered between him and the money. “I don’t think you gave me enough then. You definitely look like you eat more than I do.”

            “Whatever you can’t get, I’ll pick up.” The doors opened and Oliver bent to pick up her crutches from the floor. “Speaking of.”

            Before she gave it much thought, he lifted her up in his arms. Her eyes grew wide. “Put me down. People will talk.”

            Oliver didn’t appear to be listening as he walked with sure steps straight to her office. No directions needed. He made a beeline for her chair and set her down with ease and grace. The crutches that he had somehow tucked under his arms, he placed in the spot they were in previously. Pulling a card out of his wallet, he picked up her red pen and jotted something on the back. Tapping it back down on her desk, Oliver smiled at her. “Don’t forget.”

            Felicity reached for the small bit of cardstock the second he left. Flipping it over, Felicity stared at it dumbfounded. In bright red ink were the words: _U owe me dinner. 7 pm tonight_.

            Glancing up, Felicity realized in frustration that she couldn’t run him down for more details or to even tell him that he was wrong. This had to be some sort of sick joke. Who had she pissed off enough to do this to her? There was no way Oliver Queen, of all people, wanted to actually have dinner with her.

            Yet, she wanted to see him again. At least one more time. Felicity wanted to find out why he kissed her. Why it felt like coming home when she did.

           


	3. Pride Is...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver has to deal with the implications of including Felicity into his life might mean.
> 
> This third chapter goes with the Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon. The prompt was Pride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to everyone who has left kudos and comments. And one to my beta as well. Thank you missmeagan666 who encouraged me to continue this story.

 

            Pride is something you take great pleasure in. It was something Oliver Queen was allowed to revel in. A being who took selfish pleasure in everything he did.

            The Hood was the ultimate contrast of him. There was no pleasure to be found in the taking of a life. None to be found in the darkest parts of the night chasing down the dirtiest of criminals Starling City had ever seen. The ones who masked their dealings as easily as Oliver masked his face under Shado’s hood.

            It was that mask which had slipped when he kissed Felicity Smoak in the elevator of Queen Consolidated. What was it about this particular woman that made him lose track of which side of himself he was supposed to be projecting to the world? It was as if she took both of his masks off and revealed this inner being within himself that he had almost forgotten existed. A being that was both and neither man at the same time.

            Cursing, Oliver stormed through the side door of the foundry, entering the lair he had made under the club he was building. You’d have thought he would have learned to keep away from romantic entanglements after his disastrous relations with Helena. Apparently, it was a lesson that didn’t stick.

            “You get him?” Diggle asked Oliver while he packed up his bow.

            “No. He wasn’t there.” The robber had managed to slip past him. Maybe because Oliver was a little preoccupied with the man’s last victim.

            “So, what now?” Diggle swiped his thumb across his lips. It was a move the man used when there was something he wanted to say but refrained from voicing whatever strong opinion he had.

            “I have a date.”

            Diggle groaned and scrubbed at his face. “Who is it this time?”

            Oliver glared in his direction. He was finally beginning to accept Diggle as a friend, so the disappointment that lined his words hurt. “Felicity Smoak.”

            His friend crossed his well-muscled arms and hung his head. When Diggle looked up again, worry lay there plainly in his eyes. “Is this another Helena?”

            “No. Felicity is nothing like Helena.” Oliver stripped off his jacket. His own words hit him. It was true. Felicity and Helena were on two different spectrums. That didn’t mean that Felicity was any less dangerous. In fact, she might pose even more of a threat, because Oliver began to lose the boundaries he imposed on himself whenever she was near.

            Helena made Oliver realize how lonely his life was. It was nice to find someone who was as lost as he was. Until he understood that she was far deeper into the darkness that consumed them both. Remorse was a lost word where Helena was concerned.

            What Felicity brought out, however, was that Oliver no longer wanted to be separated from the world in which he lived. She made him want to connect to someone, just as Thea once told him he should. With Felicity he didn’t feel like either Oliver Queen or The Hood. He was just a man attracted to a very beautiful, smart, intriguing woman. It was the smart part that scared him the most. If he let her get too close she might figure out all of his secrets. Yet, it was something he was almost willing to risk because for once he felt human and not like some monster that circumstance created.

            “Hmm.” Diggle stood there studying him and Oliver set into movement. He needed to get ready. As it was, he was already going to be late. Luckily, Oliver Queen was known for being late on a regular basis.

            “Spill,” Oliver demanded from his friend after disappearing behind the changing area.

            “I think that somehow rescuing this woman brought out some sort of protective instinct. And in case you haven’t put two and two together, that is a dangerous thing in your line of work.”

            “It’s not about being protective, Digg.”

            “Isn’t it?”

            “No,” Oliver told him. He shrugged on his suit jacket as he came back to join his bodyguard.

            “Am I invited along on this little _date_?” Diggle stood there leaning against the computer desk. His face was somewhere between concern and anger.

            Oliver raised and lowered his shoulders. “It might look weird if I forgo my trusty bodyguard’s presence on something so simple.” Oliver grinned at his friend. “Plus, who else will drive us?”

            Diggle shook his head, grabbing his own suit jacket from the back of the computer chair. “Where exactly are you planning on going during this excursion?”

            Pulling out his phone, Oliver glanced down at the text on his phone. “Her place. After that, I don’t know.”

            “Tell me you are not planning on sleeping with this woman.”

            “I’m not.” Not that Oliver hadn’t thought about it. No. It was because he didn’t trust himself to not say something incriminating during the aftermath of their lovemaking.

            “Good.” Diggle nodded and followed Oliver out. Not that Oliver took much notice. His head still reverberated with the words of her text.

            _I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding. I’ll be happy to meet you at the office whenever you’re ready to discuss your computer issue. But I do have to decline your dinner offer._

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Felicity flopped down on her couch relieved the day was finally almost over. She peeked toward her coffee table where her phone and the binder of take-out menus lay. A decision would have to be made about what she wanted to eat, but she still needed to decompress over the day’s events.

            It wasn’t every day a regular, everyday girl had someone like Oliver Queen kiss her. Even if it was some sort of challenge or joke, it was a memory Felicity was sure to keep for a long time. Something as memorable as sharing a kiss with a hooded stranger.

            Her tongue licked over her lips. With her eyes closed, Felicity began to wiggle uncomfortably on her couch. The thought of both of those kisses had her skin tingling in places that hadn’t been touch in a long while. No sooner had her head fallen back onto the couch, lost in her daydream, when her doorbell rang. Felicity yelped and gripped onto the fabric underneath her tightly.

            The bell chimed again and Felicity eased herself gently off the couch. She hadn’t brought her crutches over. They were still in her bathroom after her shower.

            Felicity’s eyes touched upon the open binder of menus as she stood. She hadn’t called anything in yet so she wasn’t expecting anyone to be at her door, especially at this time of night.

            It took a moment to unchain and unlock her door, once she had hobbled over. For some reason she never thought to glance out the peep hole. Probably because her normally quick brain was still trying to recover from the sensual memories it had been lost in.

            Easing the door open, Felicity discovered one of the men who had littered her brain standing there. The one without the hood. Oliver Queen. However, for the briefest of instances, her fogged brain, comprehended the shadowed half of him as the vigilante. An insane thought.

            Oliver Queen couldn’t possibly be The Hood. For one thing, he had already been charged with that offense only to be let go after the man had attacked someone else while Oliver was in custody. Secondly, why would someone of Oliver Queen’s means be even interested in the struggles of the lowest incomed people of Starling City?

            “What are you doing here?” Felicity finally managed to ask. “For that matter, how do you know where I live?”

            “You’re a Queen Consolidated employee, Miss Smoak,” he replied back to her with a smirk on his face. “And I believe we had a date.”

            Felicity glanced over her shoulder toward the clock she had hanging on her wall before facing him again. “Had being the operative word. It’s eight pm.”

            “It’s _almost_ eight pm,” he rectified. “And, I’m sorry I’m late.” His eyes swept over her and Felicity slid further behind the door she still held in her hands. Being in her pajamas definitely put her in a disadvantage to his well-dressed appearance.

            It wasn’t fair that this guy could look like he just stepped off a magazine cover at any given moment. In contrast, Felicity felt like even the models who were in the catalogue she ordered her own clothes from would laugh at her. Even her hair was askew from the messy top knot she had put her hair in to take a quick bath after work. She would’ve much preferred a shower since it would have been quicker but her cast pretty much preempted that.

            “I’m not dressed to go anywhere.”

            “I can wait,” he said with an actual smile this time.

            Okay, so this wasn’t quite going her way. Despite her attire, Felicity slipped outside her door, closing it behind her so he couldn’t see the mess it was in. She stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, mostly because she was braless at the moment. “You can wait all night. I’m not going to dinner with you.”

            The smile fell from his face. Oliver didn’t look angry as much as disappointed. However, he shuttered his face quickly so that no emotion remained. It was almost unnerving. He gave her a curt nod and stepped back, landing him in the shadows.

            “Stop,” Felicity called out to him before he could turn to go. Her eyes narrowed at the image in front of her. Except for the light reflecting off his white dress shirt, the only part of him completely visible in the light was from his lips down to his chin.

            Felicity reached out. Her finger swept over his lips and down the scruff on his chin. It couldn’t be. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her. Oliver Queen _was not_ the vigilante. Not the man under the hood. Not the man who had shown her such kindness after her injury. Not the man she had kissed under the cloudy skies the night she was almost robbed.

            She hopped closer. Oliver’s eyes cut through the darkness as they stared down at her. A fire licked within their depths. Without thought, Felicity surged up and pressed her lips to his. Closing her eyes, she shut down the nagging thoughts that wanted to remind her that this was Oliver Queen. Instead she tried to concentrate of the memory of the man she never thought she might see again.

            His fingers dug into her shoulders at first. It was like he was trying to push her away from him, but couldn’t. Then a low moan escaped him. Deep and growly. A familiar sound.

            Oliver turned slightly and lips slashed more fully over hers. One of his hands came up and yanked her hair free from her bun. His hand swept through it, still managing to pull her closer in the process.

            This was definitely the man she remembered. The one who hated himself for kissing her but refused to stop because it was too hard of a feat. Somehow Oliver Queen was that man. Even with her large IQ, it confused her.

            For days her mind became preoccupied with one thing. Who could the man be? She never figured she’d even come close to figuring out the answer, let alone having the man unmasked at her fingertips.

            “Felicity,” he breathed out her name before kissing her again.

            She shivered in his arms. This inexplicable connection to a man she should have never come in contact with, not as The Hood or Oliver Queen, was strong. An invisible link that neither of them could fight off. The chemistry between them was practically combustible. Rocket scientists would probably love to bottle it up.

            A throat cleared from nearby. Felicity felt blood invade her face at the very real thought that they had been visible to every one of her neighbors had they only peeked out their windows. Pushing back from Oliver, she tried to settle gently on her feet but her heel hit the floor a little too quickly. It sent pain radiating up her leg.

            Oliver reached out to her quickly. Concern deeply lining his face. “Are you okay?”

            Grimacing through the pain, Felicity gave him a quick nod. “I’m fine. Just hit my foot a little harder than I planned.”

            “Where are your crutches?”

            Felicity jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Inside. In my bathroom.”

            “Sir?” a voice interrupted. “Are you still planning to make your reservation?”

            “Reservation?” Felicity asked. If he had somewhere to be, why did he come here?

            Oliver smiled gently down at her, but his hand remained at her hip. “We were supposed to go to dinner, remember?”

            “Right.” The thought of food had her stomach grumbling. She covered it with her hands embarrassed. “Dinner.”

            “Dinner,” Oliver agreed with a nod. “You might want to get changed. Not that I’m complaining. You’re outfit is kind of cute.”

            Felicity couldn’t believe Oliver just complimented her long-sleeved flannel plaid pajamas. Not that she was a prideful person, but she could’ve chosen a better outfit in which to meet him in. As it was what kind of crazy universe did she step into? Oliver Queen slash The Hood had kissed her for the third time.

            “I think we might have a few things to discuss.” So, he had picked up on the fact that she was a little confused over the fact that they might be the same person.

            Nodding, Felicity reached for the handle of her door. “Give me ten minutes.” She stepped forward right on her foot with the broken ankle. Her face contorted in pain as she bent over. “Frack!” Slipping one eye open through the pain, she glanced up at him. “Make it twenty.”

            Oliver stared down at her in worry. “Do you want me to cancel?”

            “No. Like you said we have to talk.” Her stomach grumbled again, unmindful of her current pain. “And eat.”

            “I’ll let them know we’ll be late.”

            When Felicity nodded her assent she thought that would be it. She’d hobble inside and get ready to go out with him. But apparently, Oliver wasn’t quite ready to let her do that. He spun her around pressing her to the doorjamb. His fingers gentle rubbed over her cheeks and she actually leaned into his touch, reveling in it.

            “I’ll wait in the car,” were the last words he said before his lips touched hers gently. He smiled down at her opened her door and walked away with the man who had spoken to him. His bodyguard if Felicity had her facts straight. That’s what had Felicity heading inside and leaning against her door trying to work her brain around one of the most unreal experiences of her life.


	4. Understanding Is...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity now understands that Oliver Queen and The Hood are the same man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has liked and commented on this story. Every one is so much appreciated.   
> Thank you to my beta, missmeagan666, for being wonderful.
> 
> This chapter is for the Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon. This week's prompt was Late To The Party.

 

            Understanding is the ability to comprehend something. A thing that should come easily to Felicity Smoak considering her high IQ points. It was the ability to understand that two vastly different men were one and the same. Two men, or who she once believed were two men, who had kissed her under circumstances that were fantastically unbelievable. Or at least they would seem to be if she tried to explain it to anyone else.

            Felicity leaned back against her door while trying to come to terms with all of this. Sure, slowly she had processed the knowledge, but the why and how still baffled her. Not about him being Oliver Queen or the vigilante, but about him being a billionaire while she was someone who should have never been within the sphere of his knowledge.

            Pushing herself off the door, Felicity hobbled her way to her bedroom, holding onto various pieces of furniture along the way to relieve some of the residual pain that radiated up her leg. She never did ask him where they were going. Not that it mattered considering her wardrobe consisted of mostly work clothes or loungewear. Club clothes and things like that were thrown out years ago after losing the last man she loved. So, work clothes it was.

            Felicity grimaced at the outfit she set out on her bed. Pitiful. A plain black pencil skirt and a blue cotton dress shirt stared back at her. It taunted her with the fact that this was the best that she could do. Oliver would probably run away screaming rather than be seen with her in such a plain outfit. The suit he was wearing probably cost more than a majority of her wardrobe put together.

            Resigned to the fact that she had no choice, Felicity dressed and made her way over to her bathroom. Her eyes caught upon her reflection and she grimaced. She looked tired. Between the pain in her ankle and how much longer the day seemed to go after Oliver’s visit, it wasn’t any wonder why she seemed so worn out. Reaching for her makeup bag, Felicity tried to at least make the darkness under her eyes disappear. Before she walked out the door, Felicity grabbed up her crutches and placed them under her arms.

            She hopped over to the door, grabbing her purse and keys along the way. But when she opened the door, she almost screamed. Oliver’s large bodyguard stood there with his arms crossed and back to her. He turned the second she gasped.

            “Ms. Smoak.”  

            “Mr…” Felicity realized she didn’t know his name.

            “Diggle, ma’am.” He nodded at her and indicated her crutches. “It’s a long trip down the stairs. Would you like some help down?”

            Felicity’s eyes fell upon her own personal hell, the staircase that led up to the second floor walkup she owned. Each day since her accident the agony of ascending and descending them tortured her. Honestly, she hadn’t quite thought through the fact that she would have to go through the process all over again to go on this date. If it could be called a date. Felicity still wasn’t sure what this was. And she refused to be the one to label it. “That would be nice. Thank you.”

            What she wasn’t expecting was for the man to sweep her up off her feet as if she weighed no less than a child. Felicity held tight to her crutches with one hand, while her other looped around his neck, holding on for dear life. When he quickly walked down the stairs with her in his arms, Felicity envied him. She knew how hard it was to lug things up and down the narrow stairwell.

            Diggle didn’t stop until he arrived by a black Town Car that was illegally parked right next to the stairs. With gentle ease, Diggle lowered her back to her feet so that he could open the door for her.

            “Thank you, Mr. Diggle.”

            “You’re welcome, ma’am,” he said with a tip of his head.

            Okay, the ma’am thing she would have to get used to. It wasn’t something she heard much in her life. Mostly because she was usually the youngest person in the endeavors she took on.

            Sliding inside the car, Felicity found Oliver there twiddling his phone with a conflicted expression. “Everything okay?”

            “We missed our reservation and –“

            “I’m sorry,” Felicity interrupted him. “I didn’t realize I took that long.”

            Oliver shook his head and his expression cleared slightly. “You’re fine.” He smiled at her with just the edges of his lips. “But I still owe you dinner.”

            A smile touched upon Felicity’s own lips. “I thought I was buying. I mean _you’re_ buying. It is your money, but that I was paying. So long as we don’t go anywhere too expensive, because even though I didn’t have much for lunch, it didn’t leave enough for some place that is too expensive.” Felicity took a deep breath, realizing she had talked without doing so. “Sorry.”

            “Doesn’t matter,” Oliver told her with a small chuckle. “I was the one who was late to begin with.”

            Felicity didn’t bother to argue with him. It was all over now anyway.

            Oliver turned toward her more fully as Mr. Diggle got in the front seat. “What did you have for lunch?”

            “A salad. Margaret, one of the interns, ran down to the cafeteria for me.”

            “Do you like Chinese?”

            Felicity nodded. “I love it. I would have ordered it for lunch but they have a minimum order and I don’t need that much food. Usually we order out as a group and…” Felicity blinked at him as his smile grew. “You could just tell me to stop babbling.”

            “It’s cute.”

            Felicity let out a small humph. “Well, I’m going to stop.”

            Oliver leaned forward and tapped Diggle’s chair. “Change of plans.”

            “What now, sir?” Diggle addressed him by looking back through the rear view mirror.

            “I’m going to call in some Chinese food.” Oliver looked over at Felicity and his smile softened bringing out his dimples that made him look so much younger. “Then, I think we should have a picnic at the club.”

            “Of course, sir.”

            Felicity noticed that Diggle’s words were clipped. He did not seem to appreciate the change. Or maybe he didn’t approve of Oliver bringing her to his unfinished club. Either way, Felicity was beginning to believe she was at least part of the underlining source of his agitation.

            Oliver asked what she’d like and called in their order to a Chinese restaurant that Felicity had heard of but never tried due to their exorbitant prices. Money seemed to talk because the place still agreed to have their food ready even though they were already beginning to close for the night. Not that Felicity blamed them, the money Oliver bribed them with was large even if the restaurant did reside in the area between the Glades and the better part of the city. Most of those businesses tended to close earlier than most due to the increasing crime rate after the sun set for the day.

            After Oliver ran in to retrieve their food, he settled back on the seat next to her. She tried not to shiver at the heat that his body brought back into the car. It was nice and something she didn’t realize she had been missing. The closeness between people. She had closed herself off too much since Cooper died. Her friends were lost long ago and Felicity hadn’t had the energy to create new ones since coming to Starling City. Oliver was the first since she moved that she even let into her life outside of the ones created at work _._ How sad was it that she had been lonely all this time and never noticed?

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Oliver helped Felicity from the car once they reached the once abandoned steel factory. The area had a gritty edge to it still and Oliver worried that Felicity would turn her nose up at it all. Not that he knew where else to take her. Going back to her apartment or the Queen mansion didn’t quite feel appropriate for the conversation ahead.

            He had known the second she stopped him outside her apartment with her eyes narrowing that she had managed to piece the two pieces of himself together. And he kissed her anyway. Sure, Felicity initiated it, but he could have turned her away and disappeared. Only that was the last thing he wanted to do.

            Ever since he had been home, he couldn’t separate what had happened to him from the people who were now back in his life. _Threats or targets_. That’s what everyone was. And most of the people he loved were the former. A threat to his new existence. Then this small blonde popped into his life. Felicity was different. She was neither a threat nor a target. Which was funny because now that she knew his identity she could be the biggest threat of all. Yet, still, he couldn’t look at her and see that. It was a novelty.

            “This is your club?” Felicity asked as they approached the door.

            “Yes. It’s not much to look at yet. There’s still quite a bit of construction that needs to be done.” Oliver glanced over at her. “Be careful where you step.”

            Felicity snickered. “Yeah, if I watched where I stepped, I wouldn’t be in this predicament.” Felicity held out one of her crutches while balancing on the other. “Just give me a warning if the floor is uneven.”

            Diggle appeared at the door and held it open. “I cranked up the generator, sir. The lights are on and the heaters should kick in soon.”

            “Thanks, Digg.”

            “I also pulled some blankets out of _storage_ and laid them down.”

            By the undertone of his word storage, Oliver knew Diggle had run down to the lair for them. Oliver was grateful because he honestly hadn’t thought that far ahead. It wasn’t like Felicity would appreciate sitting on the dusty floor. “Thanks again, Digg.”

            “Sir.” Diggle nodded at him. “I’ll wait in the back.” He glanced over at Felicity. “Enjoy your diner.”

            Felicity watched him leave concern written on her face. “Did he want to eat with us? I’m sure there is more than enough.”

            Oliver smiled at her kindness and helped her through the door. “I ordered him some food of his own. He’ll be fine, Felicity.”

            Diggle was more than likely heading downstairs anyway. He probably had every plan to mope over his food. Not that Oliver told her that. Leading her over to the area that John set up, Oliver took her crutches so she could settle somewhat comfortably on the blankets. Oliver set down her crutches and the food before joining her. “You ready to eat?”  

           Felicity nodded but her eyes roamed the area taking everything in. “I never had the chance to come here. It was shut down before I started working at QC.” A shiver ran over her. “It feels so lonely.” She turned toward him and smiled. “I’m glad you’re going to bring this place back to life.”

            Shrugging, Oliver busied himself by laying out the food for the two of them. Her description was ironic because that’s exactly what she was doing with him. Bringing him back to life after years of loneliness. “It wasn’t my first thought.”

            “What wasn’t?” Felicity asked as she accepted the food he handed to her.

            “Bringing this place back.”

            “Then why would you…” Her question trailed off. “Oh.”

            “Oh?”

            She leaned forward. Their knees touched and her head drew in close to his. A weird sort of awareness swept over him. He had never felt this with another woman his entire life. Finally, Felicity whispered, “Is this your base of operations?”

            All Oliver could manage was a nod. Even breathing was hard. Her smell overwhelmed him. God, he wanted to kiss her so badly but they needed to do this. To talk about the elephant in the room. His secret identity. “Yes.”

            Felicity seemed to accept his answer as if he agreed to no more than his name was Oliver Queen. She leaned back and began to eat while he still struggled to drag in the air that he needed so desperately in his lungs. Something about this woman made sharing his secrets so damn easy. It should be harder. Life-changing.

            “Why?” she finally asked, her eyes touching his almost as effectively as if her fingertips grazed his skin.

            “Because this city needs saving.”  

            They sat in silence and Oliver’s body eased enough for him to actually eat. There was no tension. No expectation of answers. No questions asked.

            Oliver watched emotions play over Felicity’s face. He could tell she was having her own internal conversation, but she remained quiet. The knowledge laid bare between them of who he really was and not once did she shy away. In fact, at some unknown point, she had inched closer. They were close enough now that their knees would occasionally brush whenever they leaned forward to grab a dumpling. Metaphorical sparks speared through Oliver during every one of those instances. It was as if her simple touch pieced through the armor that Oliver had long ago donned to continue his survival.

            “I know you have questions,” he told her piercing the silence around them.

            “Far too many,” Felicity admitted with a small shake of her head and a smile.

            “Start with the one that you need to know the most.” Oliver girded himself for a question that he’d have a hard time explaining without giving away too much. Only she hit him with one that he could barely answer at all.

            “Why me? I mean I understand the night we met we kind of just stumbled into each other. But why would you kiss me? I’m no one.” Felicity ducked her head slightly before raising it again, pushing back the glasses on her face as she did so. “There’s not one thing special about me to search me out.”

            “Felicity.” Oliver drew out her name while he slid closer. He wrapped a hand around her head and drug her over so that their breath mingled. “Don’t ever say that you’re not special.”

            Oliver breathed in the scent of her before he touched his lips to hers. He had a point to prove. With every other woman he would have pushed forward devouring her fears. With Felicity, things were different. Force wasn’t the answer. There was an understanding between them. A gentle form of trust. Oliver didn’t want to destroy that because he hadn’t felt it in so long.

            It was Felicity who moved further, encouraging the kiss to go deeper. He would give her every inch she wanted. More. Because as far as he was concerned there were no limits between them. An almost unbelievable thought after all the shit he hand lived through the past five years or so.

            Her hands gently pressed to his chest and he wanted nothing more than to feel them on his bare skin. He would take off his jacket and shirt in an instant if that didn’t mean he’d have to let her go.

            “Oliver,” Felicity mumbled against his cheek as he nibbled down her neck. He wanted to be Oliver for her, just Oliver. He’d be anything she asked if he could manage it, so long as she stayed. He’d give up everything, including his crusade. His heart swelled when her finger managed to slip past the fabric of his shirt.

            He needed her close. She brought out so many emotions in him. It was overwhelming and beautiful and he never wanted it to stop. Felicity was the light at the end of a very dark tunnel and Oliver could feel the warmth of that light licking at his skin because it was so close.

            “Am I late to the party?”

            Oliver cursed silently and pulled back from Felicity. He wanted to shield out the new voice. The intruder had definitely come at the wrong time. “Tommy.”

            “Hi.” Tommy stood there next to the blanket smiling down at the two of them. “I drove past and saw the lights. I wanted to make sure the workers hadn’t left them on. I never expected to find you here with company.” Tommy held out his hand to Felicity. “Tommy Merlyn.”

            Felicity blushed a deep pink and scooted away from Oliver. He could see the nervousness in her movements as her hands flew to her glass then to her hair and finally to her back before she managed to place one within Tommy’s. “Hi. I’m… Felicity. Felicity Smoak.”

            Oliver scrambled to his feet and glowered at his best friend. “As you can see, it’s me and we’re fine, so you can go.”

            “I see that.” A shit-eating grin spread across Tommy’s face while Oliver led him away back toward the door in which he entered. Tommy glanced over his shoulder at Felicity. “Not exactly the kind of girl I expected to find you with, but she’s cute.”

            Gritting his teeth, Oliver tried really hard not to picture killing his best friend. The same guy Oliver had saved in Hong Kong. If he had known this was going to happen, Oliver might have reconsidered.

            “So, where did the two of you meet?” Tommy asked, pulling open the front door to go into the darkness that lay outside.

            “QC.” Oliver couldn’t very tell him during a robbery when he saved her. As the vigilante. Tommy already suspected enough as it was, even after Oliver had been cleared due to Diggle posing as him after Oliver’s arrest.

            Tommy let out a low, slow whistle. “Hitting up the employees. We haven’t done that since we picked up those interns –“

            “I remember,” Oliver cut him off. He closed his eyes. Great. Just the memory he needed.

            “You have it bad,” Tommy muttered with a smile, that Oliver only noticed once he opened his eyes again.

            “I don’t have anything,” Oliver told him. “And, now that you’ve messed up my date, I probably have even less.”

            Tommy stopped by the door of his car and pulled out his keys. The jingle echoing through the dense night air. “I thought the same thing. With Laurel. Your ghost was always there standing in the way because we let it. It was our safety when things got too complicated.” Tommy smiled sadly. “We had to move past that once you came back.”

            Opening his car door, Tommy began to climb in when he turned back to his friend. “I finally admitted to myself I was in love with her. That’s what changed things.” Tommy nodded back toward the club. “I see that in you, with her. You’re the one who has to come to terms with that before anything else happens.”

            Tommy climbed into the older car that he finally purchased a week ago after Oliver hired him, but lowered the window before he left. “Good luck, buddy. You’re going to need it. I know I could’ve used some.”

            Once Tommy was gone, Oliver still stood there with his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his slacks. Tommy wasn’t the one who was late to the party. Apparently Oliver was, because it took his best friend to say something before Oliver could admit that there might just be deeper feelings than just attraction between him and Felicity. Oliver now understood that he was half in love with Felicity already if he wasn’t gone altogether.


	5. Fear Is...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver becomes fearful for Felicity's safety when she gets involved with Oliver's current target.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so behind on prompts for this story. So, to catch up the chapters are a little shorter. Hope they still carry the same impact for you. 
> 
> This is for Week 11 of the Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon, for the prompt: Get Down.
> 
> A huge thank you to my beta, missmeagan666, who did this quickly so that I can get it out to you.

 

            Fear was an emotion that something, or someone, was a threat or a danger to you. It was something the criminal elite of Starling City felt when they heard the name The Hood. It was something that the people of Starling were feeling less of now that Oliver had decided to target the criminals who hurt them the most. It definitely wasn’t something Oliver expected to feel himself. Not after everything he had lived through over the past five years.

            Yet, there he stood, his bow aimed at his target fearful of the situation in front of him, because there was one main problem. Felicity was in the way. _What the hell was she doing here anyway?_

            Felicity handed the man an envelope and Clive Mercant opened it, flipping through the papers that were inside. He smiled at her. A slimy smile that made Oliver want to shoot him for other reasons than his crimes. Oliver saw the smallest of shudders overcome Felicity’s body as a response. Something Oliver only noted because he was so attuned to her. At least she seemed to have good instincts, even if she was in the wrong place with the wrong person.

            She turned to leave, her hand clenched tight to her purse. Felicity didn’t notice that Mercant pulled out a gun the second her back was turned. But Oliver did.

            “Get down,” Oliver screamed at her through his modulator.

            Her eyes shot up to where he stood on a nearby rooftop, but she quickly followed his instructions. It’s probably what saved her life. Mercant’s gun fired in the direction Felicity once stood only to shift up to Oliver.

            Letting loose his arrow, Oliver jumped from the rooftop and fired again at Mercant’s retreating back. Oliver’s heart raced as his feet carried him to Felicity’s side. Mercant could get away for now. Felicity was more important. Mercant may have escaped, but he’d be counting down the time until The Hood’s return. The man had no idea that he made the biggest mistake of his life. He had tried to kill Felicity. For that alone, Oliver had every intention of seeing the man dead.

            “You okay?” Oliver asked in his normal voice upon reaching her side.

            She nodded slowly. “I’m fine. Thanks for the warning.”

            Oliver’s eyes narrowed. He held out a hand to help her to her feet. “What were you doing here?”

            “Your mom asked me to drop off some papers to Mr. Mercant on my way home.” Felicity brushed herself off and straightened her glasses. “I thought it would be a lot easier than this.”

            “What was in the envelope?”

            Felicity shrugged. “I didn’t really get a good look at them. All I do know is that I was supposed to tell him he needed to sign where it indicated and then return the paperwork to Mr. Merlyn’s assistant at Merlyn Global Group.” Felicity shuddered under his hands which had come to rest on her shoulders. “I didn’t realize I could die.” Her eyes raised up to meet his. “Thank you. _Again_.”

            “Mercant’s dangerous. You should’ve never been here. My mother should have never asked it of you.”

            “You think?” Sarcasm dripped off her words, but Oliver was pretty sure it had more to do with the scare she experienced than anything else.

            “Let’s get you home.”

            Felicity nodded and quietly directed him back to her waiting car. She unlocked the door and tossed her purse inside. Her head lifted and her eyes met his. “How did you get here?”

            Oliver jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “My bike.” He stared down at her. Even frazzled she was beautiful. He raised his empty hand to her cheek. His thumb brushed over her lips. “Do you want me to follow you?”

            “I think I’ll be fine,” she said with a small shake of her head. “Unless…”

            “Not this time.” It was Oliver who now shook his head. He wanted to. Badly. Not that he pictured something happening between them if he did. Actually, that was a lie. He always pictured something more happening between them since the second his lips touched hers in the elevator. Right now, though, it was more for his peace of mind. He needed to know she was safe. However, there was a more pressing matter. Mercant. He needed to pay for his crimes.

            “I better go,” Felicity finally said breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

            Oliver watched her turn to get into her car. “Wait.”

            Felicity appeared startled by his rough command. He leaned across her back and placed his bow on the top of her car before spinning her around to face him. Oliver backed them up until they were in the shadows, then spun them both so that Felicity was now closer to the building that was nearby. Her wide eyes glazed over as they stared up at him though there was a hint of mischief in those blue depths. What there wasn’t was a trace of fear.

            “Can I?” she asked nodding at his head.

            Oliver barely inclined his head in acquiesce when her hands came up and eased the hood from his head. He felt exposed standing there in front of her like that. The only shield he had was the smears of green grease paint that slashed across his eyes. Yet, he could’ve stood there naked and not have felt as vulnerable because he was exposing the monster as Oliver Queen. So, he did what he could to regain what little power he retained. Oliver pressed her back against the stone building behind her and kissed her like a man possessed.

            Felicity’s arms wrapped around his neck as her tongue matched his thrust for thrust. He stilled her wiggling hips with one hand while his other buried deep into the silken hair she had left down today. Never had Oliver felts such a burning need to stay. He wanted nothing more than to be here in this moment with Felicity for as long as he could.

            It took every lesson he learned on Lian Yu, Hong Kong and Russian to tear himself away. Even with all of that, all he could do was remove his mouth from hers. His forehead still pressed into hers because he couldn’t completely lose contact. Their breaths fogged up the night around their small bit of space.

            When her eyes opened, he smiled at her gently. “Have lunch with me.”

            “I can’t,” she said softly.

            Oliver denied the pain that her words wrought. “Sure you can.”

            Felicity stepped to the side and shook her head gently. “I should have said that _you_ can’t.”

            Oliver stared down at her confused. “Why not?”

            “The Queen Christmas Party.”

            Inwardly, Oliver cursed. Felicity was right. Tomorrow was the Christmas party he had told his family he would host and set up. “Then come.”

            She let out a cute, adorable snort. “Even if that was feasible, I’m Jewish.” Felicity glanced down before meeting his eyes. “The feasible part referred to the fact that I have nothing to wear.”

            Oliver walked the couple of steps to where she stopped and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Ask me if I care what you wear.”

            Her eyes smiled up at him more than her mouth did. She leaned forward on her toes and pecked him on the cheek. If he was honest, he was disappointed. “That’s sweet, but no. Everyone will see me there and wonder what an IT girl from QC is doing there. Especially if I am not dressed up to standard as everyone else.”

            “I want to see you again.”

            “You know where to find me.” She removed his hand from her shoulder and squeezed his hand before going back in the direction of her car.

            Oliver had no choice but to follow to retrieve his bow. But the second it was gone from the top of her car, she sped off back to the safety of her normal world.

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Felicity was sitting in her office nervously thinking about the discovery she made with the notebook Walter had given her. For the past week, she had wondered if she should mention it to Oliver, but circumstances had never led to that kind of confession.

            Picking up her tablet, she logged in to give the names another look. Mentally, she was sitting there trying to remember why some of them sounded so familiar when she heard, “Hey.”

            Startled, Felicity glanced up with a gasp and found Oliver standing there. She hadn’t even heard him come in. “Don’t you knock?”

            “Felicity, this is the IT Department, not the ladies room,” he told her with a smile and a laugh.

            “Right.” Felicity couldn’t help but smile in return. She logged out of the tablet before setting it back on her desk. “What can I do for you? Aren’t you supposed to be neck deep in Christmas decorations, or something?”

            “I need you to do me a favor. For a friend,” Oliver said with a wink before pulling an arrow out of the long tube he carried. “This is custom made. I need to find out where it’s made. Could you find out where this came from?” Oliver carefully held out the arrow to her with both hands. When she grabbed for it, he jerked it back slightly. “Careful.”

            “Yeah.” Felicity took it from him. She searched the shaft while he took a seat in front of her. “The shaft’s composite is patented.” Felicity touched the computer screen to turn it back on. Typing in the numbers she found, Felicity discovered a landing slip. “And that patent is registered to a company called Sagittarius. That’s Latin for the Archer.”

            “Really.” Oliver accepted the arrow back and slid it back inside the tube. “Could you find out where and when this was purchased?”

            Felicity smiled over at him. He apparently had no idea how good she was at discovering things on the internet. Typing in a few key words, Felicity pulled up the information he needed. “According to Sagittarius company records, that particular arrow was part of a bundle shipment. Two hundred units.” Felicity wrote down the address on a piece of paper for Oliver. “Sent to this address.”

            He grinned at her as he accepted it. “Felicity, you’re remarkable.”

            “Thank you for remarking on it,” Felicity said with a blush.

            Oliver rose and picked up his tube. “You don’t know how badly I want to kiss you right now.”

            Her blush deepened. Felicity could feel all the heat that rose to her cheeks and held her cool hands up to them. “You can’t. We can’t.” Her eyes shot over to the open door of her office. There would be enough talk already.

            He stood there staring down at her lips before his intense blue eyes came up to land on hers. “You still owe me lunch.”

            “We’ll see.”

            Oliver nodded. “Happy Chanukah.”

            “Merry Christmas.”

            When he turned toward the door, Felicity assumed that was it. Only he turned back. “Are you adamant about the party?”

            “Yes. Plus, I wouldn’t feel comfortable coming to your house.” There were other reasons, ones she hadn’t told him about yet.

            Oliver pointed at her. “After this there are no more excuses.”

            Felicity nodded. She wouldn’t run from him. She wasn’t sure she could.

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

           

            Oliver’s first thought waking up in the hospital was of Felicity. Here he had been worried she would come up with some reason to avoid spending time with him and now it was him who was postponing everything due to the injuries he suffered at the Dark Archer’s hands.

            He had underestimated his enemy. The Dark Archer was stronger than Oliver had anticipated. The result of Oliver’s ego was a broken body.

            Luckily, Digg had been there to save his ass. And he was doing it again. Diggle quickly informed him of the excuse used to explain his injuries before his family barged into the room.

            Relief swept through Oliver when they left. They believed the stories handed to them without much question. He only hoped that they would continue to believe in them during his recovery, because he planned to be on his feet soon. He had a date to get to.


	6. Compassion Is...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver is slowly recovering but not quite ready to become The Hood again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once more, thank you all for your patience. I hope to have the next couple of chapters up tomorrow or Thursday. I am still trying to get them typed and polished for you. 
> 
> This is for the Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon, Week 12, Impaired Judgment.
> 
> Thanks again to missmeagan666.

            Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy for another who is stricken by misfortune. It was something felt a lot when Felicity visited the animal shelter for her volunteer work. It was something that had been sent her way as a child after her father had left. But, never had she expected that she’d feel it for Oliver. He was The Hood after all. Oliver seemed like he could make his way through anything, but not his recent injury. At least not the mental one.

            “You’re getting stronger,” she said to him as he carried a bunch of stacked chairs around Verdant without effort. Something he couldn’t manage just two weeks ago.

            There was a brief nod of acknowledgement on his part. “Pain killers help.”

            Felicity hopped down from the bar stool she sat in somewhere in the middle of the large space. “I thought you weren’t taking them anymore.”

            “They help me sleep.”

            “Oliver?” Felicity walked over to him and laid a hand on the small of his back. “Talk to me.”

            “I’d rather not.”

            He shrugged off her hand and walked around her, avoiding all eye contact. If he thought his surly attitude would make her go away, he didn’t know her very well. Diggle seemed to understand that. Which was why he drove her over here after a few weeks of Oliver avoiding her.

            “Are you on them now?”

            Oliver swung around, his gaze hard. “Why? Are you afraid they’re impairing my judgment?”

            “Maybe.” Felicity crossed her arms. When Oliver turned hard like this he scared her a little. Usually, he would look at her and his eyes would soften slightly. Not today. Today, his anger, pain, and frustration overwhelmed everything else.

            “Maybe you should leave then. I wouldn’t want my _impaired judgment_ to hurt you.” His words were sarcastic, but for a moment the softness appeared. Felicity knew he would never hurt her and it seemed to hit him that he could while he might not want to.

            “She’s not going anywhere, man.” Diggle appeared off to the side. “You can’t keep going like this. You’re body’s stronger, but the other archer took your confidence.” He stepped further into the small bit of space the flood light gave off. “He took that piece of you that made you jump off rooftops and take down criminals without thought.”

            Oliver waved toward Felicity but his frustrated words were directed to Diggle. “How’s she going to help me get that back?”

            Okay, Felicity tried really hard to not take that personally. However, a tear still formed at the corner of her eye. “It was a mistake to come here.”

            “Those must be some damn good drugs if you think that throwing Felicity out of here is a good idea.” Diggle crossed his powerful arms and met Oliver’s hardened stare straight on. “I’ve never seen you so focused. That all happened after you started seeing her. It was like she settled you somehow. Keeping you from some of the stupid shit, but making you want to do more. Not just take down the people on that damn list of yours.”

            “Thanks?” Felicity said softly at Diggle. His shoulder lifted slightly at her word which was the only indication he heard her.

            Oliver shot a finger in her direction, telling her to wait. His gaze never shifted from Diggle, though. “Who said it was her?”

            “I need some air.” Felicity went over to the stool she had sat on and grabbed her jacket that she had laid over the surface for a lack of anywhere else to put it. She didn’t bother to listen to the rest of what was being said. What was the point?

 

            Felicity huddled inside her coat as she restlessly roamed around the front of Verdant. It was empty now, but tomorrow workers would be coming back to set up for another full day of work.

            “I’m sorry.”

            Turning quickly, Felicity found Oliver standing there against the doorway. He looked no more than the arrogant, rich, party boy he was known to be. His white dress shirt lay slightly open at the throat and his sleeves were rolled up revealing the strong forearms he possessed. He barely looked like someone who was inside moving furniture. Only the slightest bit of wrinkling to his shirt gave him away.

            “Aren’t you cold?”

            Oliver shook his head and straightened from his position. “No. I’m pissed off. At myself,” he clarified. He walked over to her and took her folded arms into his hands. Oliver rubbed them trying to invite more warmth into her body. “I’m sorry.”

            “You already said that.”

            “Not enough.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “I do appreciate the fact that you showed up.”

            Felicity bit her lip to keep from smiling as she felt compelled to tease him. “Well, you’ve been gone and I’ve been starving. I waited for weeks.” At his confused and concerned look, Felicity let the smile loose. “You owed me lunch.”

            She heard him curse under his breath. “I forgot.”

            “I figured and I’m teasing.” Felicity unfolded her arms and laid a hand on his chest. “I’m just happy you’re getting better.”

            Oliver raised a hand and nudged her chin up so their eyes could fully meet. “Outside my family and Digg, that means a lot.”

            “Wow! I’m higher than Tommy? Or Laurel?” It wasn’t sarcasm. Felicity was honestly surprised that he would place her so high in his life. _Why would he?_ He still barely knew her.

            His other hand gripped her hip and tugged her closer. “Who’s Laurel?”

            “You’re ex?” _Did he seriously not remember? Was his head hit harder than they all believed?_

            “My what?” His eyes twinkled down at her and now she knew he had been teasing her.

            Felicity slapped at his chest, eliciting a sound of pain from Oliver. Her eyes sharpened. “Are you still hurt?”

            “No.” Oliver captured her hand under his.

            “Right. The pain meds.”

            “Not the pain medication,” he denied. “ _You_. Diggle was right. You make things different.” Oliver shifted their hands so that they now rested over his heart. “Here.”

            Felicity felt the speed in which his heart pounded. Hers was faster. Just being near Oliver made that happen.

            “Come back inside,” Oliver mumbled into her hair as he let his forehead rest on the crown of her head.

            Shaking her head under his touch, Felicity stepped back. She had to be away from him until he got his head back together. “I need to go. I have a bunch of stuff to do before I head back into work tomorrow. Do you think Mr. Diggle could drive me back?”

            “I’ll do it,” Oliver told her. “Just give me a minute to grab my keys.”

            “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer Diggle.”

            Oliver stood there next to her. His expression betrayed his hurt. She felt bad putting it there, but after what Oliver had said earlier she wasn’t sure if he was completely capable of driving her. His moods seemed to shift too fast. That didn’t even take into consideration the amount of drugs he was on. Oliver needed time to recover whether he knew that or not. She wasn’t about to put more pressure on him in the meantime.

            Finally, Oliver nodded. “I’ll get him.”

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Oliver hated to admit that Diggle was right. Not that he wasn’t most of the time. After freezing when confronted by the arsonist Laurel asked him to look into, Oliver had no choice but to do so. The Dark Archer _had_ taken that piece of him that allowed him to go around without fear.

            He needed to find that piece of himself again. Only instead of figuring out where to find it, Oliver searched out Felicity. Somehow, it felt more important. Especially as Oliver hadn’t seen her since the day she left Verdant. Five thousand reasons to seek her out had come to him since that day. Not one had seemed legitimate enough for her to believe he was there honestly.

            That didn’t mean he had not seen her. Twice he found himself driving past her apartment. Only one of those times did he stop. He ditched his bike on a side street and swung up to a vantage point to see inside her living room window.

            Felicity had come home late that night exhausted. Yet, there was a satisfied smile that graced her face. Oliver couldn’t help but wonder where she had been. She had left QC four hours ago.

            Oliver watched as she kicked off her flats by her front door. She disappeared for a few minutes, but returned with a glass of wine which she set on a table near her couch without taking a sip. Felicity pulled her hair from the ponytail holder and collapsed on her plush couch. A smile still tilted her lips upwards as she lay her head back.

            She was dressed casually. More casually than he had ever seen her before. Jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt of a peach color that made her features brighten. It was in that moment Oliver realized how much he missed her.

            That was a week ago. Now, he was involved in this arsonist case and he did not have the extra time to go looking for her. Yet, Oliver wanted her there even more. He wasn’t fully ready to become the vigilante again, but with her support he might.

            “You okay?” Digg asked the second Oliver dragged his ass through the hidden door into the lair.

            “Yeah.”

            Diggle shot Oliver a look that said he did not believe him. Of course he didn’t. Diggle always knew when things went sour. The older man vacated the chair in front of the computer while Oliver stripped out of his suit. “Your mom and Tommy called while you were out. You might want to give them a call.”

            “I will.” Oliver came towards him zipping up his grey sweatshirt over his bare chest. He picked up his phone from the table he left it on. “No other calls?”

            “Is that your subtle way of asking if Felicity called?”

            Oliver felt his cheeks heat up. “No.”

            Diggle chuckled. Oliver decided retreat was his best option. Diggle was beginning to know him too well.

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Felicity did not know when, or if, she’d hear from Oliver again. They had not parted on the best of terms. But, she thought that maybe he would have tried to contact her before now. It was not like he had a lot of Hood business to take care of. There were several news stories questioning his disappearance. More and more as violence began to escalate with his continued absence.

            Her life was turning normal again. Almost like the time she had known Oliver and The Hood were some long dream that expanded over several nights, rather than actual reality. A dream she was missing. Oliver had made the boring, mundane life she had fallen into exciting. Something she thought she didn’t need anymore.

            A knock on her door had Felicity’s heart racing. Maybe just thinking about him brought Oliver to her door. Felicity straightened her hair and glasses and rose from her desk chair. “Come in.”

            A young man in a courier outfit entered. “Miss Smoak?”

            “Yes.” Felicity sat back in her chair, deflated. “Can I help you?”

            He reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a white envelope, handing it to her. “This is for you.”

            “Thank you.” Felicity stared down at the crisp, white envelope that only had her name on it. Nothing indicated who it was from. She reached for her purse to tip the guy when she realized he was already gone.

            Felicity dropped the envelope on her desk and stared at it. _Should she open it?_ For a second, Felicity contemplated calling security to examine it. Only that would cause a company-wide incident. And what if it was from The Hood? That would mean everyone would find out about her involvement with him. She couldn’t have that. No matter how upset she may become, Oliver’s secret was his own to share.

            Picking up her scarf, Felicity wrapped it around her face and grabbed a letter opener. Better to be safe than sorry. Felicity grabbed her spare pair of wooden chopsticks from her desk drawer and proceeded to hold the letter out before she slid the letter opener through the top.

            So far, so good. Felicity dropped the envelope back on her desk and separated the edges with the chopsticks. Nothing appeared to be inside other than some sort of invitation.

            With a deep gulp, Felicity unwound the scarf before wrapping it around her hand. Tentative, silk-wrapped fingers extracted the slip of paper from the envelope.

            It _was_ an invitation. Nothing more. Felicity laughed at her own overly anxious brain that made it out to be something else. All that time spent with Oliver was apparently making her think people were after her.

            The invitation invited her to the Fireman’s gala being held by Tommy Merlyn and Oliver Queen in honor of the recently fallen firemen. There was an RSVP number at the bottom. It wasn’t one she recognized, but she called it anyway.

            “Tommy Merlyn.”

            “Umm. Hi. It’s Felicity Smoak,” she explained. “You sent me an invitation.”

            “Right. The blonde from Verdant who Oliver was seeing over a month ago.” Felicity could hear a smile creep into Tommy’s voice. “Oliver asked me to include you as an invitee.”

            “I have a question.” Felicity hesitated. She felt silly. “What exactly does one wear to a gala?”

            “Something nice,” Tommy said with a small chuckle. “It’s not too formal. Well, it can be, but it’s not necessarily expected.”

            “I might not have that,” Felicity admitted thankful that he was on the other end of the phone and could not see her embarrassment.

            “Whatever you have is fine,” Tommy assured her kindly. “Don’t go all Pretty Woman. I don’t think Ollie could handle it. He’s been through enough.”

            Felicity covered the mouthpiece of her phone so her snort couldn’t be heard on the other end. Tommy had no idea. “Just to be safe, I better decline.”

            “Ollie told me that declining wasn’t an option.”

            “Then why have an RSVP?” Felicity asked in exasperation.

            “For you,” Tommy amended. “He wants you there. I have to say you have me intrigued. I’ve never seen Ollie interested in a woman this long before.”

            “Really?”

            Tommy chuckled, but his voice turned serious. “It’s like all the demons he brought home with him begin to disappear. He becomes the Ollie I remember before he left.” Felicity made a noise to speak, but Tommy continued. “Better. He’s a grown up version of himself.”

            Felicity didn’t know what to say to that. Fine. She had one thing. “I’ll try to be there.”

           


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver is only just going back into the vigilante business after being hurt by the Dark Archer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the next chapter for the Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon. This is for Week 13's prompt: Sleepless.
> 
> Huge thank you to everyone who has left reviews and has been following along. And to my beta. Thank you everyone.

**Determination Is…**

            Determination was all about being resolute. Firm in your purpose. It was something that kept Oliver alive through the five hellish years he was away. It was what made him come home and deal with the people on his father’s list. It was that straight line thinking that made him sleepless most nights.

            However, last night the restlessness that kept him awake had everything to do with Tommy’s grin and shrug when Oliver had asked, for what had to be the hundredth time, if Felicity had called to confirm her attendance at the gala. He needed to see her. His peace of mind rested on that.

            “Are you sure you want her here?” Diggle asked as he shrugged into his suit jacket. “We don’t know exactly what the chief knows. And she still isn’t moving very quickly with her broken ankle.”

            “She’ll be fine, Digg.” Oliver said that to him more to reassure himself than his partner. “Between the two of us, we can keep an eye out for her.”

            “Even if things go south?”

            Oliver shuddered slightly, but tried not to let his friend see. He did not want to think about the fact that he might have put Felicity in danger. It was a fireman’s gala to raise money. What was the worst that could happen?

            It was later that Oliver reminded himself not to ask that again. Felicity had only just arrived when Oliver saw his opportunity to talk to the chief. Oliver led Laurel over determined to keep it short and to the point so he could make his way over to Felicity’s side.

            Only Garfield Lynns interrupted everything. He began to set the place on fire slowly. Everyone ran away panicked. That left things up to Oliver to calm down the situation. Only he would have to do it as The Hood, if he expected things to fall his way.

            Diggle seemed to be handling the evacuation. Laurel and Tommy were safe. What happened to Felicity was unknown, but she had been close to the door, so Oliver had to hope that she was one of the first ones out. It was with the thought of her on his brain that drove him to dress faster than he ever had before. He could only hope everyone, including Felicity, were safely outside the building, so that he could concentrate on getting Lynns to back down on his vendetta.

            Racing back up the stairs with his bow clenched tightly in his hand, Oliver found the place empty save the chief and Lynns. Oliver disregarded the fact that his club was burning in favor of trying to diffuse the situation that laid before him. Lynns didn’t seem like he would be happy until the chief was dead.

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Felicity rushed over to Diggle when he came out of the building. She had been looking for him since people began to evacuate, but she knew he’d be one of the last to leave. He was not just Oliver’s partner, he was a bodyguard. Keeping people alive was his business. And from what Felicity knew of the man, he was good at his job. Look how well he had been handling Oliver so far. If Diggle could keep Oliver alive with all the crazy stuff he did, Felicity had hope for everyone else.

            “Is Oliver okay?” she asked as he reached her side.

            Diggle shrugged his wide shoulders. He grabbed her by the elbow and moved her to the side of the crowd so that their conversation would less likely be heard. “Last I saw him, he was heading downstairs.”

            “Who was that guy?” Felicity asked him, genuinely curious. “Was he on the list? Because I don’t remember…”

            Diggle sent her a look, but disregarded her trailed off statement. _For now_. “Garfield Lynns. He was a fireman years ago.”

            Felicity’s brows crunched together as she tried to recall who he was. Then it hit her. “Isn’t he supposed to be dead?”

            “He’s not as dead as most people would like to believe.” Diggle’s eyes caught on something over her shoulder. “I have to talk to Tommy. Hang tight. Oliver will take care of this. You might want to head home for the night. Everyone else will be going as soon as the investigators and police arrive to take their reports.”

            Grabbing his arm, Felicity had one more question. “At what cost? Last time Oliver went after someone he almost lost his life.”

            Diggle only shook his head leaving her there with dread hanging heavy over her heart. Yes, Oliver had already made a place there. Felicity hadn’t wanted to admit it even to herself because the last two men who had a place there left her. They had devastated her world. Considering the dangerous stuff that Oliver kept jumping into on a nightly basis, Felicity could see him leaving her too. Much more like Cooper had than her father. That thought did not make it any easier.

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Oliver left his house after his family was assured of his safety. They tended to hover even more if he didn’t. But that was not where he wanted to be. He was pretty sure there was someone else who needed to see him, almost as much as he needed to see her. He wouldn’t be able to sleep at all tonight if he didn’t.

            Only a phone call from Laurel sidetracked him. Oliver was going to have to meet her. Pocketing that phone, Oliver pulled out his personal one. His finger hovered over the call button. No, he had to meet Laurel first before he committed to anything else.

            If Oliver had any clue it was a trap set up by Quentin Lance, he would have gone with his gut instinct and went to see Felicity. But, his distraction had faded his instincts. Maybe having Felicity around was dulling him. Then again, it was the thought that if he was caught that something might happen to her that made him run faster, jump further and escape. Because his other gut instinct told him that Felicity being together with Mercant wasn’t an unhappy accident.

            However, after Oliver had put Laurel in danger, in order to escape her father, he felt the need to circle back and check on her. Laurel still held a piece of him that he’d never lose. She was his first love and his friend. More than that, he had hurt her horribly when he invited Sara aboard the Queen’s Gambit causing Sara’s tragic death off the shores of Lian Yu.

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Felicity snuggled down into her couch with a heavy throw on top of her. Her television was on but she stared through it. The night before had been chaotic enough. When she awoke that morning she had not felt like leaving her house. She was still in the pajamas that she had put in on the night before after washing off the smoky smell that had permeated her body from the fire.

            Oliver had never called. Never been in touch. Never bothered to make sure she was okay or let her know he was. Which told her exactly what he thought about the two of them. Felicity was no better than any other woman in his life, despite his words at Verdant the last time she had talked to him. Diggle, on the other hand, had sent a quick text to let her know things were fine. It had been the only communication she had.

            After the fire, Felicity had huddled off to the side of the crowd wondering, waiting. The fire chief had come out announcing The Hood saved him but not one person spotted his green hood. Diggle had disappeared, probably inside to check in with Oliver. That left her alone with a large group of people who she didn’t know. She had asked for her cab to return later that night, but the party had ended sooner than anticipated. In the end, it had been Oliver’s best friend and his ex who drove her home.

            Laurel had seemed confused by the situation. Tommy only smiled and assured Felicity they were fine going slightly out of their way to drop her off. He had been the one to make sure she had shown up after all. Felicity saw some level of responsibility in his eyes. One that should have at least landed on Oliver’s shoulders.

            Reluctantly, and with one last glance toward Verdant, Felicity had left with the pair. She slept that night with her phone clenched in her hand. It wasn’t until half way through her day that she received Diggle’s text. At least someone cared enough to let her know _something_. Too bad it hadn’t been Oliver.

            A throat cleared from next to her and Felicity jumped and yelped in fear. There was someone in her apartment. Her eyes shot over to the intruder. Oliver stood there decked out in his Hood gear. Even his bow was present in his hand. None of that mattered. He was safe.

            Felicity ran, okay limped quickly since her ankle was almost healed, over to him and flung herself into his arms, hugging him tight. His own arms came around to encircle her. She felt him toss the bow toward her couch and she looked up at him. “You’re okay?”

            “I’m fine.”

            Pulling back slightly, Felicity slapped him as hard as she could on his chest. His eyes narrowed and he yipped in pain. “What was that for?”

            “Because you’re fine.” Felicity walked away and sat on the edge of her couch crossing her arms. “You couldn’t call or text?”

            “I…” Oliver pulled back his hood so she could see his face. “You don’t know how many times I almost did.”

            “Diggle did.” Her accusation hung in the air between them.

            “I would apologize,” he told her honestly, “but I don’t think that’s what you are looking for.”

            “No, it’s not.” Felicity rose and went over to poke him in the chest with one of her fingers. “A text takes like three seconds. You couldn’t even spare me that.”

            “I needed to see you. To make sure you were okay. I figured you’d want the same.” His eyes softened as he eased her finger from his chest. “Your own text wasn’t good enough for me. I couldn’t breathe until I was here seeing you sitting there.” Oliver indicated the couch she abandoned, where his bow now rested.

            He sounded so lonely and tired. Yet, he also sounded resolute in what he was saying. Felicity had no choice. She had to believe him. “I missed you. And I worried all day long.”

            Oliver inclined his head. It was as if he knew, but more than that, it was as if he understood because he felt the same. She knew he’d never say it. He wasn’t that kind of person. Felicity had to search out the signs. She could only hope she didn’t read them wrong.

            He stepped closer. His eyes darkened while his head lowered. Felicity pushed up on her good leg meeting him halfway. Their lips touched softly. It was not a lustful kiss or even a romantic one. It was a kiss that satisfied their need to know the other was there, feeling the same way. A comfort to know that they were safe and together. Felicity could hug him until the world ended and it wouldn’t have been the same as that kiss.

            “I can’t lose you,” Oliver whispered against her lips.

            “Then stop pushing me away.” Felicity lowered to the ground and brought a hand up to sweep against his cheek. His eyes closed briefly at the contact as if memorizing the feel of her hand.

            Oliver’s eyes opened, the blueness of them penetrating her. “This is dangerous.” Oliver’s hands brushed up and down over his body, indicating his outfit. “I’m dangerous.”

            “You’re not,” she told him. “Not for me.”

            A smile tugged at the side of his mouth while he took a step back. “That’s just it. I’m not for you. You deserve better.”

            Felicity placed a hand on her hip and glared at him. “That’s not what I meant.”

            “I know, but it’s no less true.” Oliver walked around her and went to pick up his bow. “There’s a darkness inside me. You haven’t seen what I’m capable of. I’m a killer. A monster.” He turned back to face her. “That’s not for you.”

            Crossing her arms again, Felicity let her own anger show. It frustrated her that he honestly believed that. Like she could not make up her own mind on how she wanted to proceed with whatever relationship they pursued. “But it was for Laurel? For Helena?”

            Oliver snorted. “Helena has her own darkness.”  

            “And Laurel?”

            “I was in love with Laurel for a long time.” Oliver fell heavily onto the side of Felicity’s couch, his bow between his legs. “I thought maybe once I came back… That maybe I could be with her, but I can’t.” His eyes rose to hers. “I’m not sure if I deserve to be with anyone.”

            Felicity let her arms fall heavily to her sides. He was serious. Oliver honestly believed he was destined to be alone. She walked the few steps that stood between them. She lowered herself to her knees next to his bow and gripped his legs, squeezing them while she maintained the eye contact they established. “What you deserve is to be happy. Everyone deserves that. No matter what they may have done in the past.”

            “Not me.” His voice was dejected, hallow.

            Rising quickly, Felicity took Oliver off guard when she shoved his shoulders with all of her might. He fell back onto her couch. Oliver sputtered, dropping the bow from his hand onto the floor with a clatter. She had to step over it as she came around the couch. He was just pushing himself up when she sat next to him.

            “What the hell was that for?” His expression held utter disbelief that she had even tried.

            “Because you’re an idiot.”

            “Thanks.” One of his eyebrows rose as he tried to figure out whether she was being sarcastic.

            Felicity shook her head at him. She couldn’t do much more than that. Oliver was obtuse. Rising slightly so he could shift his legs, she lowered herself onto them than her resuming her previous position next to him. His eyes grew wide at the boldness of her action.

            “What are you doing?”

            Wrapping her arms around his neck, Felicity shifted closer so she could be comfortable on his lap. “Proving you can be happy.”

            “I’m not having sex with you.” His voice was gruff and deep, but his hands came up to rest on her hips.

            Felicity would have laughed if she was not slightly offended. Oliver sounded like he was trying to talk and swallow his tongue at the same time. “You don’t want to…” Felicity began to scoot back but his hands held her there, locking her into place. “I’m not… I mean sex would be nice… I’ve thought about it,” Felicity stammered, blushing. “But, happiness is not just sex.”

            “I more than thought about it,” Oliver admitted softly. His hips shifted up and Felicity felt exactly what he was talking about. “God, Felicity. You’re going to kill me.”

            His forehead fell against hers. Oliver’s eyes shuttered. His face somehow managed to soften and tighten at the same time. He was fighting a war that raged within himself. His hands ran up and down her bent legs that surrounded his own briefly stopping as they brushed over the cast she still wore. If he didn’t want to have sex he sure as hell was going about this the wrong way.

            Before she had another thought, Felicity was flipped over on her back, flat on the couch. Oliver lay over her, but not one inch of him touched her. His hands were uneven as one lay next to her hip and the other on the back of her couch. His toes on the edge of the couch where he once sat kept him in that position. His body didn’t even tremble at the effort as he held himself like that above her. Oliver’s eyes took in every inch of her. She’d be lying if she said she did not do the same to him.

            “You’re beautiful.” It was his voice that trembled. The only sign of weakness in his taunt state.

            “So are you.” She had not meant to say that out loud. Felicity didn’t regret that she did because it was what led him to finally relax and settle into her.

            “My boots are on,” he said by way of apology after a mind drugging kiss.

            “I don’t care.” Felicity wrapped her arms around him.

 

            He nodded. That was it. That was all the permission Oliver needed before he let passion sweep over him. Felicity was here. She was in his arms finally. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. It didn’t matter whether he came to her as Oliver Queen or The Hood. Felicity was one of the few people who accepted him. Him entirely. The good and the bad. The only other person who had done that was Diggle. Not even Helena had been capable of it.

            Oliver felt Felicity’s hand hesitantly rest at the zipper of his jacket. He gently pushed her hand away and jerked the zipper down. Oliver needed her to touch him. To see him. He half wondered in his fog of desire how she would react to his scars.

            There was nothing to worry over. Felicity barely took notice. Oh, he knew she knew they were there. Her small hands skimmed over them, but it was like they didn’t matter anymore than his eye color. Oliver had never felt so open and vulnerable, and Felicity just lay there and accepted him, flaws and all.

            Slashing his lips over hers, he surged forward so he could feel what she did to him. Oliver felt safe and sheltered here in her arms. Never had he felt like that while having sex, or really ever before, save in his childhood. All his other sexual experiences were more about getting off. There had been a few instances that it meant more, but it had not been like this. Never fully a give and take, where he cared more about the person he was with than himself. Felicity allowed him that. She’d allow him so much more if he wanted it. He knew that in his bones. But he felt no need to take advantage of that fact. Felicity was much more important.

            Maybe that was what love was about. If it was, Oliver only now realized he had never felt it before. Not like this. Which made him come to one reality that shook him to his core. He was in love with Felicity Smoak.


	8. Dread Is...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver gets shot by his mom while Felicity has to battle her thoughts after a scare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am finally caught up. Yay! This is for the Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon. It is for week 14. The prompt was ASK.
> 
> Thank you everyone for patiently putting up with me while I caught up. If you read One on One. That should soon have a chapter up for this weeks Ask prompt as well. 
> 
> Thank you missmeagan666, for always taking time out of you day to help me out whenever I need it. :)

**Dread Is…**

            Dread was something you anticipated with fear. It was how Felicity felt before attending Cooper Seldon’s funeral. It was how she quaked each time she had a dental or doctor appointment when she knew a needle was involved. It was how she stared at the thin plastic stick that sat in front of her covered by the ugly pink chicken dish her mom had mailed to her as a housewarming gift. It was with hope that the pink chicken was the only bit of pink she’d see the rest of the day.

            How could she have slept with Oliver Queen without thought of any sort of protection? She knew the statistics of just relying on birth control pills. Especially ones that were more meant to regulate her periods.

            How was she supposed to ask Oliver how he felt about the possibility of being a father? It was a question she never thought to ask any man for a while. It was not part of the life goals she had set for herself in the next five years.

            Closing her eyes, Felicity reached out and removed the offensive dish. Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes, only to squeeze them closed again, while taking several more deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Never had she counted on a plastic object to tell her fortune as much as she did right now. Not even when she received a Magic 8 ball for her twelfth birthday and asked if the guy she crushed on liked her back.

            A whoosh of air escaped her once her eyes were open. A football tackle could not have made her release any more. It was negative. _Yes!_ Her arm shot up in the air congratulating herself from being released from her own stupidity.

            Now she could head into work. Now she could breathe. Now she could stop stressing and just be in the moment. Things between her and Oliver had settled into some sort of routine, especially now that she finally had the cast removed from her leg a little over a week ago. Or as routine as they could be after she revealed his mom was into some pretty dangerous stuff. Apparently, Diggle had also had been trying to tell him the same thing.

            Oddly, the first time she brought it up, he seemed to take the fact that she had been working with Walter to discover Moira’s secrets well. Of course, they had just finished having sex on her couch. So, there was that.

            Oliver didn’t like the fact that Felicity was working on the list. He assured her it was only because he worried about her safety. Walter had already been taken. Oliver could not handle the same fate happening to her. So, Felicity handed him the book and let him take care of it.

            From then on, they somehow eked out time to see each other between his family obligations and nighttime work and her own job which never really had normal nine to five hours. He still refused to let her become involved in anything. Oliver was scared something might happen to her if she did. Which is also why he kept his involvement with her quiet, in regards to his own family as well. He refused to give his mother any more reason to think Felicity might be involved in something.

            Tossing the plastic stick in her trash, Felicity felt relieved that she would not be asking Oliver where their future was heading. Shaking off the last of the tension, Felicity walked to her room to dress for the day. If nothing else exciting happened today she’d be thrilled.

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Oliver stumbled through the parking lot, his hand pressed to his bloodied chest. He tried his hardest to keep the blood contained. Any drips would lead the police to his location. Spotting his goal, Oliver began to relax which was not the best course of action. He needed to remain alert. Things could still go wrong.

            Pulling a key from his pocket, Oliver let himself into the backseat of the car. He could rest here. Only he could not afford to pass out, no matter how much his body pushed him to do just that.

            He didn’t know how long it was before the front door was finally opened. It was the car starting that woke him up fully. “Felicity.”

            She jumped and turned in his direction. “Oliver.” Her eyes roamed over him. “You’re bleeding.”

            “I don’t need to be told that,” he gritted out.

            Concern covered her face and he saw her hands flutter toward him before she checked herself. “Let me drive you to the hospital.”

            “No.” His voice was sharp because she had begun to turn around and do just that. “You need to take me to the foundry.”

            “No offense, Oliver, but you’ve been shot. The club isn’t exactly where you need to be. You need a doctor not a drink.”

            He could see her warring inside herself. “Please.”

            She nodded once. “Fine. Just don’t die on me. I don’t need that after the way my day started.”

            Oliver wanted to ask her what happened. He always wanted to know about her. Even the small things. But, now, he was in too much pain. Closing his eyes, Oliver laid down on the back seat and let the darkness overtake him.

 

            Felicity glanced back at Oliver and realized he passed out. Maybe it was for the best. The road on the way to Verdant was bumpy. It would only cause him more pain if he was awake.

            With shaky fingers, Felicity searched her phone for Diggle’s number when she reached a stop light. She needed to give the man a head’s up. He’d know much more of what to do than she did. Felicity just hoped like hell that John Diggle had enough medical experience to save Oliver’s life because he looked half dead already.

            John directed her to their secret door. The one he must have disappeared through during the fire. As he told her, he met her there with a gurney. Which was just as well considering how heavy Oliver was in his state.

            Felicity clenched his hand tight, after locking her car, while John pushed him inside. One of her tears dripped down her arm and onto Oliver. She rubbed it into his skin in hope that maybe he’d sense her presence.

            Everything happened so fast once Diggle prepped. Felicity had never been in an emergency situation before so she was left to wonder if John was that amazing or everyone was just that efficient.

            “He’s going to be fine, Felicity,” John finally said once they had a small, quiet moment. But she wasn’t sure if he was reassuring her or himself. “He’s been through a lot more than this.”

            “Is it so wrong that I don’t want to dwell on that?” Felicity asked while she knitted her hands together behind her back.

            “No. It makes you human. One of the good ones.” Diggle sat back against the computer desk and studied her. “You make him human, too.”

            “He was already human.”

            Diggle snorted, drawing her full attention. “You didn’t see him when he first came home. Hell, even when I met him, he was this wild thing and I didn’t come into the picture until a week later.” Diggle rose from where he sat and walked over to Oliver’s prone form, laying a hand on his bare arm. “He’s changed so much since he met you.” Diggle turned and smiled at her. “He kept you around when I questioned whether he should. It was one of the first times I didn’t mind being wrong where he was concerned.”

            “You didn’t…” Felicity never finished her question because the monitor on Oliver began to beep. She rushed over to help Diggle discover what was wrong.

            Oliver was flat lining. Felicity felt her heart fall to her feet. Diggle reached for the paddles to jump start Oliver’s own heart again. Only the paddles didn’t work. Felicity hurried over and began to play with the wires. She had heard the charge so something had to be wrong with the machine. Felicity found out she was right. Some wires had been crossed. She didn’t need this kind of stress when the man she cared for life was on the line. Diggle waited for the paddles to recharge and shocked Oliver. When his heart began to beat again, Felicity’s body felt heavy and she slightly collapsed in on herself.

            “What did you do?” Diggle as he also fell back in relief.

            “I’ve been building computers since I was seven. Wires are wires.”

            John laughed, but it was more to relieve the tension. “Maybe you should check out our computer system.”

            Felicity glanced over at the computer. “Would you mind?”

            With a wave, Digg told her, “Have at it. It’s going to be a long night. We might as well distract ourselves.”

            Upgrading Oliver’s computer ended up being the thing that kept Felicity sane. It kept her mind from wandering back to that morning when she had been too scared to view the results of the pregnancy test. A test that would have told her if the man whose life was now on the line would be a father. It also kept her from wondering if she had made a mistake pressing Oliver to keep her in his life. A life that might very well be shortened due to a bullet wound afflicted by his own mother, according to police reports. The woman who would have been the grandmother of Felicity’s hypothetical child had the results of the test fallen differently. Not exactly the family dynamic Felicity would select for a family she hadn’t planned on to begin with _. Okay, so maybe fixing the computer did not keep all the thoughts at bay,_ Felicity thought with a sad smile.

            A hand landed on Felicity’s shoulder. She looked up hopefully, but it was only John. He smiled down at her. “You okay?”

            “Um-hmm.” Felicity nodded. “As good as I can be.”

            “Felicity.” A gasp sounded making Felicity and John turn to the table where Oliver lay. Oliver struggled to sit up, but John got to him and held him back down.

            “You’re okay, man.”

            Oliver nodded. “I guess I didn’t die. Again. Cool.”

            Felicity glared down at him. That was all he had to say? Was he serious? Frustrated, Felicity stormed back over to the computer. She still had a few more tweaks to finish before it was operational. Diggle could check Oliver over. Right now, she could not deal with him.

            She wasn’t sure how long it took, but she was finished. Or at least as finished as she could be with the parts at hand. Turning around, she noticed Oliver finally standing with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a mirror in his hand.

            “How am I going to explain this one?”

            “Hickey gone wrong?” Diggle said with a smile and a wink in Felicity’s direction.

            “I don’t bite,” Felicity replied back as her face suffused with heat.

            “Hey.” Oliver turned toward her. “Thank you.”

            “That’s better than constantly apologizing.”

            “You’re the apologizer, remember?” The corner of Oliver’s mouth rose upwards and he set the mirror down. “Sorry for passing out on you.” His eyes hit upon the computer behind her. “What did you do?”

            “Upgraded your system.” Felicity presented it to him. “I looked like it was from the eighties and not the good part of the eighties like Madonna,” Felicity Vogued slightly before she caught herself, “and legwarmers.”

            Oliver gave her a considering look. “I didn’t want you involved.”

            “Then you shouldn’t have practically bled out in my car.” Felicity crossed her arms and glared at him, her voice louder than she preferred. The rain outside began to beat against the sides of the building, some of it pouring into the crevices that remained despite the reconstruction. It was the only sound that filled the void of silence that fell between them.

            Diggle approached the two of them. “I think I’ll give you a minute.”

            Felicity barely noticed him leave up the stairs. Her attention was mostly focused on the stubborn male in front of her. “You almost died.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            Felicity had to refrain from smacking him. The urge was strong. But he had been shot. He _had_ almost died. He was only there by the grace of God that allowed her to get to Diggle in enough time for the man to save Oliver’s life. “I’m sick of the apologies.”

            “I’m…”

            She held up a finger. “Don’t say it.”

            “Thank you. For saving my life,” Oliver gestured to the computer, “and for upgrading my system.” He studied her and stepped closer. “Does this mean you’re in?”

            “In, as if part of the team?”

            Oliver inclined his head. “Yeah.”

            “Diggle said after everything, I was practically a member of the team already.”

            Oliver reached out and pulled her closer. “You’ve been part of the team for a while.”

            “Not just your cheerleader?”

            “I don’t need a cheerleader. I need you.” His eyes told her how true his words were.

            “Okay,” Felicity agreed. “But just until we find Walter.” When Oliver looked confused, Felicity qualified, “He was nice to me. I’ll help until we find him, but that’s it. I was fine in my boring life as an IT girl.”

            “The one who was secretly dating the city’s vigilante?” Oliver teased.

            “About that…”

            Oliver’s smile fell. He shook his head and took a step back. Oliver looked ready to take a blow that he wasn’t prepared for. “Don’t, Felicity.”

            “If you knew what happened earlier…”

            Oliver grabbed her again, crowding her personal space. “I don’t care what happened earlier. _Earlier_ I could’ve died, but I didn’t. Thanks to you and Diggle. Before that…” Oliver swallowed hard. “I don’t care.” He cupped her cheek. “I love you.”

            _What?_ Felicity felt her mouth fall open at his revelation. “You do?”

            That wasn’t exactly what she had planned to say when she found sound to come out of her dry throat. But it worked. Because there wasn’t much more that she could come up with.

            He nodded down at her. “I love you, Felicity Smoak. And I almost lost you. Lost this.”

            His mouth touched hers and she forgot all about pregnancy tests and death. She wrapped her arms around him and just enjoyed knowing he was here with her. He loved her. How was that even feasible? Not illogical, since she loved him too, but possible?

            Oliver pulled back, a huge grin on his smug face. “If Diggle wasn’t about to come back any second, or I wasn’t practically dead on my feet,” at her gasp, Oliver winced. “Sorry poor choice of words.”

            “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Felicity admitted. “I had my own scare this morning.”

            “A scare? Who scared you?” His voice became deep and gruff. His vigilante voice. How quickly he could change when he thought someone he cared about was threatened.

            “Not a _who_ exactly… Though, I guess it could’ve been if it had gone differently.”

            He stood there before her baffled, but he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Felicity, slow down. What are you talking about?”

            “I thought I might be pregnant.”

            “Thought?”

            Felicity could not tell the feelings behind Oliver’s one word. It almost sounded disappointed. But that would be silly. “It was negative. I’m not pregnant.”

            Oliver mumbled something under his breath that she could not make it out despite the close amount of space they shared.

            “What was that?” Felicity placed her hand on her hip. “Are you mumbling that would’ve been a good thing?”

            “No.” Oliver pulled her closer and touched her under her chin so that she could see every emotion that passed through his eyes. “I said it was a good thing I didn’t die. I’d like the chance to see if one day we can change the results.”

            “What?” Felicity could not believe what he just said. Even seeing the truth on his face, didn’t help her comprehend. “Are you saying that you wouldn’t have minded if I was pregnant?”

            “I don’t think we’re ready,” Oliver admitted honestly. “I definitely wouldn’t have taken the chance I did with my mother if I had any clue. But someday I hope this city gets better. Maybe then it won’t seem so far-fetched.” He cupped her chin tighter and gently kissed her. “With you. Only with you.”

            “Maybe someday.” Felicity hated to admit it even to herself, but during her lunch break she had daydreamed about the possibilities of a normal life with Oliver.

            “Someday,” he promised, entwining her hands with his own as he pulled her into him tightly.


	9. Chills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity have a run in with the Dodger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon Week 15 prompt Choose.

**Chills…**

            Chills were when your body produced heat during a muscle contraction, sometimes during a fear or a scare. Oliver had felt a lot of chills in his life. When he found out Samantha Clayton was pregnant after just one night with her. And then when he heard she lost the baby. When his father took his life in front of him. During torture and starvation. But, now, they invaded his body because he had to choose.

            The choices were simple. Stay with Felicity or go after the man who had put her in danger of losing her life.

            Oliver took a look at Diggle. He stood there completely calm with a piece of pen stuck in his mouth as he studied the components of the bomb collar around Felicity’s delicate throat. Diggle met his eyes. Oliver saw the understanding there. He knew Diggle understood the conflict within him. So, Diggle took the choice from him. “Go.” Diggle nodded. “Just go. Go. Go. Go.”

            Shifting his glance, Oliver met Felicity’s own eyes. He saw fear there, but she nodded her consent. That small gesture seemed to lift the paralysis that invaded his bones. Felicity could die tonight. It was up to him to make sure that did not happen.

            Oliver raced from the ballroom questioning why he had believed it was a good idea to bring Felicity along on their mission tonight. The answer was simple. She was the one who knew how the GPS system in the broach worked. More than that, Oliver had wanted to keep her close lately. However, if he had pictured that tonight would have put her in any danger, he would have locked her inside the lair. She might know how to override the system, but she would have been miles away from here.

Spotting a biker, Oliver ran to his side. “I need to borrow your bike.”

            “Screw you.” The biker dismissed him. It was the wrong move. Oliver had a lot on the line. Balling up his fist, Oliver knocked the man out in one easy punch. He didn’t have the time to mess with the guy.

            Snatching the keys, Oliver pulled on the guy’s gloves and slammed the helmet on his head. It only took a minute to get on the road, but it felt like a lifetime. “Talk to me, Felicity. Talk to me.”

            He needed to hear her voice. If she was directing him to where the Dodger was, she was alive. And she’d stay that way if he had any say about the outcome of this adventure.

            When Felicity told him to cut through a section of streets, Oliver decided to take the chance by driving through the plaza. People jumped out of his way as he sped past. The stairs were straight ahead. If he could get over there, he’d practically be on the Dodger’s tail. Which meant that Felicity had that much more of a chance at survival.

            “He should be right in front of you,” Felicity said in his ear as he made it back onto the road.

            “I see him,” Oliver told her relieved that at least the Dodger was finally in his sights. Now if he could keep the man’s hand off the trigger, Oliver’s heartbeat might finally calm down enough to not suffer a heart attack.

            Unfortunately, the Dodger spotted him on his tail. He weaved back and forth trying to get Oliver to crash. Seeing that wasn’t enough to lose him, the Dodger tried to smack the bike with the side of the sedan he was driving, causing Oliver to drive on the sidewalk. Luckily, no one was there. Not that it mattered. Felicity mattered and getting to the Dodger was going to save her.

            Oliver raced after him. He needed to see this man captured before he could lay his hand on the trigger. But damn it, the Dodger was determined to lose him. The man slammed through a construction section upending cones and barriers so that they flew in Oliver’s direction. Oliver easily avoided them using many of the maneuvers he had learned during his time in Russia.

            He had enough. Oliver reached into his jacket and extracted a flachette he had hidden in there. He threw it toward the tire of the sedan. Sparks flew as the tire split apart. The Dodger did not seem to care he was only driving on the rim. But it caught up to him and the sedan went crashing into a parked vehicle.

            Oliver pulled up short on his bike. He watched the car flip onto its side. Oliver could feel his teeth from where he had them clenched during the last five minutes. Pain lanced into his head, but not as much pain as the Dodger was about to experience if he even came close to that detonator.

            The Dodger crawled out of the car trying to escape as Oliver slowly came off the bike. He approached the man with burning thoughts of murder. The man dared put the woman Oliver loved in danger. Oliver had tortured and killed men for less.

            “Don’t do anything stupid,” the Dodger called out to him as Oliver came closer. He held up the trigger mechanism. “I had the foresight to collar up a particularly inquisitive blonde. I assume she’s a friend of yours. Touch one hair on my head and she loses hers.” The Dodger almost seemed to be gloating in his fear. And he should be fearful, because Oliver could already smell the man’s blood. “You’ve got quite the choice to make, don’t you?”

            “Not this time.” Oliver flung a flachette at the man’s arm. Felicity would be happy that he didn’t end the man’s life. Though it would have been Oliver’s first choice. “Your median nerve’s been severed. You couldn’t push that button,” Oliver told him yanking the mechanism from the man’s hand, “if you tried.”

            Oliver towered over the man. “Tell me the code.”

            “What code?” The Dodger’s voice trembled.

            “The code to release the collar, or your nerve won’t be the only thing that is severed.” The Dodger hesitated and Oliver pulled out his last flachette holding it to the man’s throat. “Tell me!”

            The Dodger gave him the code and Oliver keyed it in. When Oliver heard Felicity thank God, Oliver knew he could breathe. Cold eyes stared at the Dodger through the glass of the helmet as he tucked away the flachette.

            “Why are you doing this?” the Dodger questioned. “I’m exactly like you. I only steal from the rich.”

            The Dodger tried to hit him with his Taser stick, but Oliver had already anticipated the move. Grabbing it from the man’s hand, Oliver allowed the charge to hit the man and knock him out. It was only then that Oliver raised the visor. “I’m not Robin Hood. And you tried to hurt someone I love.”

            Just for the hell of it after the scare he had had, Oliver kicked the man. At least he hadn’t killed him.

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Felicity gasped as the bomb collar released from her neck. She glanced over at Diggle who stumbled back in his own relief. “Oh, thank God.”

            It took a few moments before Felicity heard from Oliver and she was wondering what had happened between him and the Dodger. Picking up her tablet, she tried to find a traffic camera that would give her some insight, but the closest she could come only allowed her a fuzzy image of one man standing there. “Oliver?”

            “You okay?” came Oliver’s voice over the Bluetooth.

            “Yes. The bomb collar is off.”

            Felicity heard his deep intake of breath. “Let the police know the Dodger’s location. He’s waiting here for him. He should be unconscious until they arrive. I’ll be back soon.”

            Informing Diggle, Felicity watched him walk off to make the anonymous call, but Felicity remained on the line. “Oliver?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Thank you.”

            She watched the shadowy figure shake his head as he mounted the bike. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m just happy you’re safe.”

            “I am,” she reassured hm. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to have John drive me home.”

            “I’ll meet you there,” he promised.

 

OQFSOQFSOQFS

 

            Oliver took the long way back to the charity auction. He needed the time to think and reflect on what had happened tonight. It was something Oliver did not want to happen again. It couldn’t happen again. It was one thing for Oliver to risk his life on a nightly basis. It was something that Diggle chose to do right by Oliver’s side. But it could not be the life that Felicity lived.

            An image of Sara flashed through Oliver’s mind. She had followed him when she should not have and she was dead. That was not a fate that Oliver could accept when it came to Felicity. Oliver had already lost two women he loved due to stupid decisions. He refused for Felicity to be the third.

            Oliver spotted the biker talking to a cop. Shaking his head, Oliver stopped the bike around the corner and wiped it down. They would find it soon enough and hopefully chalk it up as some sort of joy ride.

            A call came through on his phone and Oliver answered it via his Bluetooth. “Yep?”

            “You need a ride?” Diggle asked from the other end.

            “Felicity home?”

            “I just dropped her off.”

            “I’ll catch a cab,” Oliver told his friend and partner. “Go catch up with Carly. It’s been a long night.”

            “Will do.”

            Oliver smiled. “Tell her I said hi.”

            Diggle laughed. “I will as soon as I know she’s talking to me again.” There was a brief pause before Diggle asked, “What are you going to do about McKenna?”

            Wincing, Oliver had no answer for him. “I’ll discuss it with Felicity when I get over there.”

            “It’s a good thing you live somewhere else,” Diggle said with a chuckle. “Otherwise, I’d be making the couch up for you.”

            “I’d just crash at the bunker,” Oliver told his friend, but grateful too that he had options after that future discussion.

            “I’ll remind you of that,” Diggle said still laughing before he hung up.

            Oliver had not thought about what he’d have to do now. Felicity had seen the opportunity to gain information from the detective so she had encouraged Oliver to flirt with her so that they had access to the information that the police had on the Dodger. What Felicity did not know was of Oliver’s past involvement with McKenna before he had left on the Gambit. If Felicity had known, Oliver doubted that flirting would have been her first suggestion. Now, that left Oliver in a position where he was expected to go out on a date with his past sexual partner. All the while still very much in a serious relationship with his current one. A problem that only bothered him now that he was older. Oliver laughed silently to himself. It had nothing to do with age and everything to do with love and respect. And he shared both of those with Felicity.

            Hailing a cab, Oliver jumped inside and directed the driver to Felicity’s apartment. His life was becoming more and more complicated with each passing day. And that did not even take into consideration all the crap that his family, or mainly his mother, was involved in.

            Oliver would love to deny that there was anything there, but with the book, Felicity being placed in danger, and Walter’s disappearance, things were beginning to look bad no matter how much Oliver wished to say she had her reasons. Reasons that Oliver had not taken the time to sit back and contemplate.

            All of the paled in comparison to the fact that he had almost lost Felicity tonight. Leaning forward, Oliver promised the driver another fifty dollars if he could get him there in the next ten minutes.

            It took eight before Oliver was handing the man a hundred dollar bill. The driver’s eyes grew large as Oliver yelled at him to keep the rest. His feet hit the stairs and he began to run. He took the stairs two and three at a time. Felicity was so close. He could sense her presence, but he needed to see her. To feel her in his arms.

            Oliver pounded on the door, ignoring the inquiring eyes of a neighbor who came out of her apartment with an unpleasant looking cat on a leash. He jerked his thumb at Felicity’s door, addressing the woman. “Girlfriend. Haven’t seen her in a while.”

            The woman smiled, petting her hissing cat as Felicity’s door opened. Oliver pushed his way inside and slammed the door shut. It vibrated along the way with the force. It was then he stopped.

            Felicity stood before him, her eyes tinged red with tears. A crumpled tissue lay in her hand. Purple and pink plaid pants hung low over her hips and one the dress shirts he had left at her place rested across her shoulders over a purple tank top with a French poodle wearing a cocky beret on it. She was the best thing he had ever seen in his life.

            “Come here.” Oliver held open his arms and she threw herself at him. He grasped her tightly, happy to feel her warm and alive against his chest.

            “I almost died,” she mumbled into his chest.

            “I know.” Oliver pulled her back so he could stare down at her. His hands wrapped around her head and his thumbs swiped the tears from her face. “It’s okay, honey. I’ve got you. You’re going to be fine.”

            She nodded under his hands, sniffling slightly. “I don’t know what I was thinking confronting him like that.”

            “Is that how he found you?” Oliver never had the opportunity to ask her before. He had been more concerned about getting the collar off of her.

            Felicity nodded again and Oliver pulled her tight. His hands weaved into her hair, just savoring the feel of her. Something that he might have been denied if he had been a minute later, or the Dodger a little bit more slippery. If Oliver had made one mistake with the Dodger, he could have lost the best thing that ever happened to him.

            “I promise,” Oliver whispered into her ear, “I’ll always keep you safe if it is in my power to do so.”

            Now, it was Felicity who pulled back. Her eyes cut into him. They weren’t quite angry but there was anger there. “I made the mistake. Not you. If I died tonight, it was because I made the mistake. One that I will be sure not to make again.”

            “No, you won’t, because you won’t be going into the field again.”

            Felicity slipped from his hands. The anger was definitely directed at him now. “That’s my choice. I decided to join you on this mission. To help you. To find Walter. Sometimes that means I can’t sit back safely and do nothing.”

            She walked away from him toward her kitchen. Felicity yanked open her fridge and grabbed a bottle of wine. She poured herself a healthy dose in a wine glass before facing him. “It’s my life and it’s my choice. Just as your decisions are your own.”

            Oliver did not know what to say to that. He knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell her that it was his mission and he couldn’t jeopardize that if he had to worry about her. That was the absolute worst thing that he could say. So, he remained silent.

            He watched her take a drink of the wine before she set it aside. Her feet carried her over to him. Oliver almost jumped when one of her fingers jabbed him in the ribs. “I will not ask you to give up what you do because what you’ve been doing has changed this city for the better.” Her eyes searched his for something, but he wasn’t quite sure what she looked for. “Don’t ask me to care any less than you do. That’s not fair.”

            Grasping her shoulders, Oliver restrained his own growing anger. He would not hurt Felicity, which was why he did not shake her as much as he would have liked to. “I need you safe. Can’t you see that?”

            “Then let me do what I’m good at.”

            “And if that puts you in danger again?”

            “Let’s just hope that it won’t.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a quick one-shot but my beta has told me that I must write more. I'm not sure when I will do that, but I will try. Here's to crossing our fingers that the next prompt for the Fic-A-Thon works right in.


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